Camille's Life

Contest entry!

2011-05-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

I’m posting this to enter a contest offered by MeridaHome at Design For Mankind! I want to win the iPad 2! (and I love Erin’s shoes!)

As we go on, we remember all the times we've had together...

2011-04-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 21st 2011, I graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. I have felt so grateful for my time at BYU and in the Marriott School of Management. I have learned so much, developed great relationships, and grown spiritually. It was great to see my younger sister Miriam graduate as well. She will complete the Advertising program this summer. I'm excited for what the future holds for her. In honor of both of us graduating, my parents and sisters Rae and Emma were able to make it out from Maryland to attend.

Friday, immediately following Miriam's convocation, I went down and spent the weekend in Las Vegas with my cousin Emily. It was so much fun. Some of the highlights include: Shopping, laying out by the pool, doing a session at the Las Vegas Temple

Mystere by Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island and

the Bellagio fountains

Animated Economic Lessons

2011-03-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not posting ever! I feel like my thoughts are consumed with school projects, tests, subject material, competitions, future job, etc. I don't know that much of that is worth blogging about.

Though I do want to share some insight into this crazy business world for those of you that are interested. In my Managerial Economics class, our professor advised that all of the single students in the class screen their dates by gauging their level of interest in this video. I might just consider. Please enjoy.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

ECM NYC

2011-02-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

Three weeks ago I attended Wells Fargo's Analyst Placement Day in Charlotte, NC and met 12 different groups. Based on the groups' preference of candidates and the candidates' preference of groups, assignments would be made. With 4 spots in NYC, 3 spots in SF, and 21 in Charlotte, I was held in much suspense until...

Thursday I was informed I will be joining

Equity Capital Markets in New York City!!!

I feel tremendously blessed and very excited.

I will begin training the second week of June in Charlotte, NC for 6 weeks after which I will begin my adventure in NY.

Walk on the Water

2011-01-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

As many of you know... I have been working as a Spanish teacher at the Missionary Training Center. The past 9 weeks I have had the privilege to come to know and love 8 amazing missionaries. It has been such a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs but this district has taught me so much and I have seen each one of them grow in their testimony, their command of the Spanish language, and their ability to teach. The culminating experience of the 9 weeks was a baptism for "Marta," their progressing investigator. Below is the musical number that the Hermanas performed for her. They wrote both the lyrics and music for the number based on a powerful class lesson several weeks ago. What talent!! It has been such a blessing to be their teacher. The missionaries will be leaving for Costa Rica and Dallas, TX.

The whole district

Another Year Has Passed

2010-12-25T18:32:00.001-08:00

Mele Kelikimaka! Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!

What a great Christmas! I am so grateful for my family! We had the whole family together for dinner tonight, which, might I add, was hands down the best meal I have had in years! The ham, sweet potatoes, homemade rolls, eclair pie, and sparkling punch, and the other 20 items on the table were absolutely divine. With everyone together, I tried to discuss important agenda

items such as future family reunions, but as always, the conversation was diverted to lighter and less important topics, such as moving to Germany, "our diet starts tomorrow," and past love life scandal links between C&C. I also loved seeing the National Christmas Tree and the DC Temple Festival of Lights!

I cannot even believe 2011 is right around the corner but here go some

2010 Highlights...

Last 4 months of my mission in Houston, TX

Back in Houston for a Mexico v. Angola friendly with the Patino family

Dukelow Family Reunion in San Diego- Fourth of July Weekend

PwC FICG Internship. What a fun group of interns!

Several NYC/DC rendezvous with my favorite Carrie Lipscomb!

Signing a full-time IBD job offer with Wells Fargo

Teaching some amazing Hermanas & Elderes at the MTC

Apt prayer/boggle with fabulous roommates Fall 2010 @ the Elms

Short but sweet stop in Yorba Linda, CA before MD for Christmas :)

Being with the ones I love for Christmas 2010

Pozole Verde

2010-11-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Today, Callan Graham and I made my most delicious Pozole Verde ever! Ok so it was my first ever- but it was super rico! It is hominy (mutantly giant corn kernels) and chicken stewed in chicken broth and an amazing chile: jalapenos, poblanos, tomatillos, oregano, garlic, and onion. It's eaten with tostadas and crema, and garnished with lettuce, cilantro, radishes, and avocado. We made it for the ward mission council's Culture Night activity. I couldn't stay for the activity but I hear the Pozole was the popular dish. We ate this dish probably every other Sunday after church with la familia Araujo for the last 4 months of my mission.

Winter time in Houston was filled with delicious pozoles, caldos, abuelitas (chocolate) and atole to get us through the "cold."

What a Blessing!

2010-10-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who know that I interned with PwC both before and after my mission, this may be a shock, but I declined my full-time offer. For some reason I did not feel good the more I contemplated the decision of returning to DC after graduation in April, especially to the accounting world. I loved my group this summer but decided to take the risk and go full force for investment banking.

With the help of soo many people, I was able to grow my network, prepare for technical interviews, and finally, I am happy to say, land an offer. I will be joining Wells Fargo Securities, Investment Banking and Capital Markets. In February I will fly out to Charlotte and participate in a placement day where I will be assigned a group and from there, a location- either Charlotte, San Francisco, or New York City. I will begin in June 2011 and am so excited. After speaking to so many banks, I feel like it is the perfect culture fit for me!
I am so grateful!

My Path to Wells:
Scott Havertz who told me about Pathways to NY this summer
Winston Wilkinson who provided me with contacts keeping me busy in NYC
Jessie Butterfield my random roommate for a week while hunting down Winston's contacts,
Thomas Jones Jessie's boyfriend, now in Private Equity, previously @WF,
Troy Ford @WF passed my resume on...
Craig Cox @WF ---> First round phone Interview in the SFO airport- 9th Interview of the day

Enjoy my childhood memory below:

Layover Fun

2010-10-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at LAX I had the funnest entertainment. I was sitting at the gate across from an obviously LDS family of 4. The mother left and the father was left with his 2 year old son (Noah) very contently playing a game on a laptop and a 6 month old that began to cry immediately after the mother left. His feet barely reached over the seat of the chair and his big eyes were fixed on the screen. After about 15 minutes, Noah decided he needed help but his father was tied up trying to calm the crying baby. He asked blonde middle-age women two chairs down to help him. He gets up and carrying a big laptop makes his way to her lap. She was quite amused and decided to go along with it. The woman and Noah became friends instantly. About 10 minutes later, Noah decides he is done playing on the laptop and starts digging around in her Disneyland souvenir bags. He finds her phone and before she could get it out of his hands, he informs her that he is going to program her phone and proceeds to update her facebook status. The whole ordeal went on for about a half-hour before the mother returns with chicken nuggets that Noah decides to enjoy from the comfort of this woman's lap. I absolutely loved his fearless maneuver of cuddling up right next to her without her even inviting.

I was smiling the entire time, as was the rest of the surrounding crowd. I think it is so interesting that our fear or hesitation to befriend others inhibits this natural tendency of a 2-year old to see no bounds. I appreciated the woman's willingness to entertain him while his father struggled to tame the infant. If we were all like Noah, awkward moments would cease to exist. I think this is exemplary of Christ's invitation to become as a child and His admonition to "let not [our] heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid." This was a great lesson to me. Sometimes my pride stands in the way of love. I fear the judgement of others and forgo serving them. I am continuing to be taught how I may better emulate my Savior.

On another note, the sope de carnitas at El Vaquero (100 W & 300 N Provo) is absolutely delicious. QUE VAYAN TODOS!

T5W2 Zone Leader Council

2009-09-26T12:29:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone? I hope things are going well. Don't forget to write!

We were invited to attend Zone Leader Council this week. Two sets of sisters were present. This Spirit was so strong as we learned about the importance of teaching the first principle of the first lesson- God is our Loving Heavenly Father. Many times this principle is breezed over but President emphasis the vitality of establishing the understanding with the investigator that they are a child of a loving Heavenly Father that wants the best for them and will listen and respond to sincere petitions made through heart-felt prayer. I know this is true. The power of this doctrine is forgotten. After the meeting I realized through subsequent appointments that people really do not grasp the concept. People are so confused and do not understand the personal relationship we can have with God. I loved this message. This Spirit was strong. We all left very spiritually edified and with commitments to teach this principle more fully.

We had Zone Meeting on Friday where the Zone Leaders addressed this principle. They also talked about casualness with obedience. Elder Olive (from Kahuku, HI- going home this transfer- Clarissa!) used excerpts from a good talk by Elder Holland (Teach the Atonement) to emphasize that obedience is the first law of everything. If we choose to disobey we neglect the opportunity to call down divine blessing prepared for us in heaven. We ate at this pizza buffet afterward- Double Daves.

We had some good lessons this week. Unfortunately we had to drop Guillermo--our skateboarder investigator from Guatemala. He loves the Book of Mormon and know the church is true but works at Cheesecake Factory every Sunday and has not come to church. He said it is possible to request off but he needs the money as he only works the weekends. We had to leave him with the determination to come to church. Sometimes people lack the faith to make dramatic changes to be able to be obedient.

We went to a baptism last night in Gulf Bank--Hermana Thomas' last area. A family of 8 got baptized. It was the longest baptism I've ever gone to but her love for that family was so strong and their love for her. The mother caught her on our way out and thanked her for pretty much saving her life by bringing the gospel into it. Those are the moments that make a mission the best two years.

Ramon was confirmed yesterday in Sacrament and as he sat on the stand, I saw the joy in his countenance. It made me smile so big.

I love this work. Although we have some very hard and long days, I know that nothing will stop this work from going for and that just as Nephi in the book of Helaman, I will be rewarded for preaching with unwearyingness.

I love you all,

Camille

T5W1 New Transfer and Ramon's Baptism

2009-09-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone? I hope everyone is well. I'm jealous Mom is best friends forever with Denise Austin. Ha ha. Keep me posted with all the summer weddings that are going on! Hah.

We had transfers on Wednesday. My new companion is Hermana Jenny Thomas from Centerville. She went to Viewmont but doesn't know if she knows any of the Ences. We get along great. We have several things in common. She ran a marathon right before the mission so we are excited to do a lot of running this transfer. We did the first couple days.

I got sick and lost my voice completely this week. Sister Hansen (President's wife) told us to stay in and rest Friday and Saturday because it just kept getting worse. I might have just been working myself too hard or something. My voice is still recovering and sounds pretty raspy but my companion says it sounds pretty cool. Because we were confined to the apartment together without being able to go to our appointments we've been able to get to know each other pretty well.

We taught Ramon Thursday, getting him ready for his baptism. He is 58 and just very sweet. We left, had walked around the corner to our car, and as I was backing the car, I saw him hustling around the corner to catch up with us. He was bringing me some cough syrup that he highly recommended. It is called Broncolin and is kind of like medicinal honey. It was precious. Hermana Gurney and I made a stop by the distribution center at the temple before transfers to buy him a baptism gift and got a triple.

Yesterday was Ramon's baptism. It was almost exactly 6 weeks from when we found him while knocking at the very beginning of last transfer. The baptism went great and the Spirit was strong. He had to be baptized a few times. Hermana Thomas and I made cookies and brownies for the refreshments and for the musical number she sang This Is The Christ in Spanish and I played the piano. I'm not very good at the piano but it's more than anyone else in the ward- it makes me miss Hermana Gurney, Draney, and Dewey, who all played the piano. I bore my testimony at the end of the privilege it has been to me to see someone so prepared and ready to receive the gospel. He was truly an answer to my prayers coming into this ward.

We have several other very prospective investigators that are progressing towards baptism. Yesterday one of our investigators, Elvin, attended church for the first time and absolutely loved it. Hermana Thomas is excited to be working in this area where the work is going well. We have to recuperate from our last couple days of being sick but I think soon enough we will be back on track with the many appointments.

I know this is the Lord's work. I know this church is true with all my heart. As I study the scriptures in the morning the amount of knowledge I take away is incredible. Just today even I was study to try and help a certain investigator and the exact thing he needed was made known to me. This transfer I am focusing on the Christlike attribute of knowledge. If anyone has any deep doctrine questions, write or email me, and I would love to study them for you. Remember though, Joseph Fielding McConkie said that we must ask the right questions. A single ward member's question/problem was brought to the Bishop, then to the Stake President, then to the Area Authority, then to the First Presidency who eventually responded- "I have no idea what the answer is, but that is THEIR problem." The Lord gives us questions to allow us to learn as individuals.

Anyways, keep cool!

Love,

Camille

T4W6 Alex's Baptism

2009-09-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Wow, it's been such a dramatic week here! We found out about transfers on Saturday night. The district has a tradition of going to Red Robin then doing a ceremony to announce the changes afterward. The dinner was fun. Here's the news: I'm staying in the Woodlands this next transfer and Hermana Gurney, my companion, is going to go whitewash an elder's area with the greenie that came in last transfer (Hermana Green, ha ha, how ironic). My companion will be Hermana Thomas, from Centerville, UT, who was Hermana Gurney's MTC companion. Apparently she really struggled with Spanish coming out to the field so hopefully I will be able to help her there.

This week was a bit crazy. We are doing service once a week at an Arboretum. We also did exchanges with Hermanas Draney and Bastian in Louetta. Hermana Draney came up to the Woodlands with me for the night. We had a lot of fun back together, mother and daughter. She goes home tomorrow. I can't believe it. That makes me feel so old in the mission. We had so much to talk about. She spent almost half her mission in the Woodlands and she thinks I will be here for at least 6 months too. We taught some good lessons. She is going back to BYU and trying to get married. Ha ha, that's going to be me in a year. I loved my trainer. I still learned so much from her that one day. She is a great missionary. It was nice to see her one last time before she "dies."

Saturday the North Zone Leaders called us and told us Hermana Quintana in Cityview was sick with strep throat and asked us to come down and do some splits so Hermana Frieszell could get some lessons taught still. Their appointments were at night, which meant we wouldn't have been able to make it back for the Red Robin transfer dinner. After a couple minutes of feeling resistant to helping them, a very strong spiritual impression told me to stop being selfish and accept the will of the Lord. I learned a great lesson in that 5 minute period about taking advantage of the the opportunities we get to serve others. The Relief Society lesson was on service and I had an opportunity to share that experience with the Sisters in the ward. Being able to tell that story in Spanish made me realize the power of the gift of tongues and several of the sisters thanked me for that comment.

If you remember from last week when we did exchanges with CityView, it was Hermana Hollenbaugh and Hermana Frieszell in the area. Apparently Hermana Hollenbaugh went home. I don't exactly know why- just that she was sick. I think it was anxiety. It is weird thinking about how we both embarked on this journey together in the MTC and how she is no longer here.

Yesterday after church I was able to go to Bear Creek for the Alcantara's baptism. It was a surprise and everyone was so happy to see me. It was great to see so many familiar faces and to see these to little boys of a family I reactivated making this sacred covenant. They have changed and progressed so much. Hermana Dewey was sick with strep throat and was not going to come to the baptism but it was really important to everyone so they got her a mask and brought her. She looked very sick, but it was good to see her.

We rushed back to the Woodlands after the Alcantara Baptism and had Alex's baptism. Alex S. is the 15 year-old boy that had been waiting for his dad to get custody of him. I was able to get my hands on a flute and Hermana Gurney plays the piano, so we did a musical number, I Heard Him Come. The Spirit was so powerful. I congratulated him afterward and he said he had been waiting his whole life for that moment. He was so happy and the fact that there were few people there and few refreshments did not bother him. He is going to serve a mission someday. His testimony is so strong.

I am excited for this coming transfer. We are continuing to do well in finding many people and teaching a lot of lessons. Ramon will be baptized in the coming week.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer.

Love you all,

Camille

T4W5 Exchanges in CityView

2009-09-26T12:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

How was everyone's Fourth of July?! The Woodlands Mall had a huge fireworks show and everyone was on their blankets alongside the freeway and ready to watch them when we were heading in for the night. We celebrated Independence Day at Taqueria Arandas with delicious fajita marinada.

This work was another week of hard work. Alex S. will be baptized soon. We just found out the building is already scheduled on Sunday so we might have to push the baptism off to next week. He was interviewed and so excited. He speaks more English than Spanish so we teach him in English. He is 14 years old and way solid on his testimony. We are so excited for him. His father just received custody of him this last week so after months and months of waiting to be baptized the opportunity has finally come.

I set a personal record for new investigators- 15 in one week. We are leading in the zone in numbers but I think more than anything we are really helping people progress towards baptism.

This week I had the opportunity to go down to CityView with Hermana Frieszell for exchanges. We had such a fun time. We found some amazing families in just one day. I learn so much from doing exchanges. Hermana Frieszell will go home next transfer so she has a lot of time in the mission. We ate with a member family and they are the first to ever ask if I am Filipino. They all expecting a huera (white girl) to come in with Hermana Frieszell but when each went in for the kiss on the cheek had to take a double take when they saw the dark skin. We taught a good lesson about how the standards of liberty was raised on every tower to be seen by all. So should our personal witness as members of the church be raised for all to see. Hermana Hollenbaugh came up to the Woodlands with Hermana Gurney and it was a good experience for Hermana Gurney to really step up and take the lead being the only one to know the people and the area for the day. Their area is really small but has about as many people in their area as ours. 75% of the people there are morencitos, or black people. It reminded me more of home. Ha ha. We did some bike riding for our morning exercise, which I enjoyed. Actually, today for P-day, Hermana Gurney and I borrowed the elder's bikes and are going biking around Lake Woodlands.

We had an interesting experience this week when the police came to the house during our lesson with our investigator. He has a lot of problems with a recent divorce and his son is involved in bad things but I know the gospel is what he needs.

I am enjoying the work. Still I continue to find my weaknesses and try to be more led by the Spirit. I know that this is the Lord's work. With our 3 investigators getting baptized soon I know that we have been blessed but I also know there are still those looking for the gospel.

I hope everyone is doing well. Don't forget to write!

Love you, Mom, Dad, Emma, Miriam, Clarissa, Rae, and Ben!

Camille

T4W4 Temple Trip and Good Numbers!

2009-09-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone?! This week was packed full. From what Mom says sounds like everyone else is keeping busy too. I'm very dark- my watch tan gets more defined every day. Miriam- I want to see how dark you are!

This week we taught 25 lessons, had 11 new investigators and had 10 lessons taught to investigators with a member present, and filled 2 gallons with sweat each (Editor's note: I think we all agree that this last statistic is gross). Ha ha. Not that numbers really mean much, but these numbers mean we worked hard. We come home every night so happy and I have never before felt so much that the Lord is content with the work that we are helping to be brought forth in this area. The area is just blooming! Next week we are packed just about every single hour of the week with appointments. It is because we talk to everyone. At the beginning of my mission this was not as easy for me, but I feel such an excitement to approach whatever moving human being I catch in my peripheral. My companion says that she is learning from me in this way. I am, what we call, her "greenie-breaker" or her first companion after her trainer and while I learn a lot from her I am privileged to offer some of my strengths as well.

We set a baptism date with J. Martinez (age 35). He is the son-in-law of one of the English ward members who is less active. She referred his name and he is so ready to receive the Gospel. The glow in his face as he listens to our teachings combined with his expression of desires to change his life invite the Spirit so strongly in our visits. We are excited for him and to see him progress.

Yesterday we taught a 20 year old girl, Karla, who has 2 kids. She just moved to Texas from the Bronx and is ready for a new life. As I testified to her of the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I felt that perfect love that Heavenly Father has for her. Imagine hearing a single 20 year-old with 2 kids and not having any preconceived judgments attached but knowing that through the waters of baptism all is forgiven. That perfect love I experienced just a piece of yesterday as her eyes filled with tears while listening to our testimonies. I know that our Father has that perfect love for each one of us and all that we must to do show our love in return is be obedient to his commandments.

I know we have been so blessed in this area. We are getting to know the ward better and really enjoying the work. Hermana Gurney got sunburned really bad this week but she didn't let that stop her from treating it with aloe vera, changing into a different top, and getting right back into the work. The majority of our lessons we teach sitting on buckets or chairs outside on the porch but whatever the location is- the importance of the message and the capacity of the Spirit is still the same. We are here to create that setting and invite the Spirit to testify.

I hope all is well and that my emails don't bore you!

Love you all!

Camille

T4W3 Zone Conference in College Station

2009-09-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Happy Belated Father's Day to Dad! Hope you enjoyed all that chocolate I hear you got. I'm sure the Elder's Quorum lesson went well. The Relief Society lesson Sunday was also on temples and most of the Sisters are not endowed so it made me really appreciate the knowledge and understanding I have gained from being able to enter the temple. In fact we are going to the temple this week to do a session, so I am way excited!

We taught 20 lessons this week and everyone in the mission is so proud of us because for the past several months the area had really struggled and there was not even a thought that reaching the 20 lesson mission goal would be possible. We are working all day long and talking to everyone. I have not sweat so much in my life! The temperature is about 105 degrees everyday but we receive strength to keep going. I know that strength comes from the Lord because the little food that we eat throughout the day with our standing outside preaching on apartment steps all afternoon would not suffice without some other divine assistance. Each night we come home so happy about the success we saw as people allowed us to share our message.

This week we took a 2 hour van ride with half the zone to College Station where the Woodlands and College Station Zones had zone conference. We had a very good conference. President emphasized the importance of extending more bold and frequent baptism commitments even on the first visit (which were Dad's words of wisdom from the airport). We also had a practice-teach workshop where we focused on our delivery of the first vision. We teach the first lesson more than anything else and the ability to invite the Spirit during that lesson is what makes people want to learn more. There are three convert missionaries in the mission and they all agreed that they could not remember what was taught the first time they listened to the missionaries but they could remember what they felt. We study Joseph Smith History every week in our studies as well, and as Elder Callister committed the mission last year, we need to be "Restorationists."
I encourage you all to strengthen your own conversion of the restoration/Joseph Smith story because really that is what separates us from the rest of the world.

Overall Zone Conference was a great experience, even though we did have to wake up at 4:30am. :)

We are teaching a man named Feliciano R. from Guatemala and as we taught him this week the Spirit was strong. His desires to learn and to really understand God's plan for him are so sincere. As we taught him the principles and ordinances which compose the gospel of Jesus Christ he stopped on each one, faith, repentance, baptism... to evaluate his personal standing on each step. When he got to baptism he stopped and realized that that is what he is at. He knows that he needs it for eternal life and we are working with him now to overcome a few obstacles to be able to take that step.

In the Spanish Stake here, we typically do not teach the Book of Mormon in the first visit. This one lesson we taught to a lady, L. Giraldo from Colombia, was a huge testimony to me of the how simply we can recognized the guidance of the Spirit if we pay attention. Both Hermana Gurney and I were prompted to introduce the Book of Mormon as we listened to the situation and questions of L. She made a firm commitment to read and pray about it. I know that we both received the same prompting and it amazes me still how unified we can be when we teach through the Spirit.

Our golden investigator, Ramon, is still on his way to baptism the second week in July. Yesterday as we taught the 10 commandments, he very intelligently explained that Christ came and fulfilled the law of Moses and that great and last Sacrifice ended burnt offerings. We continue to be amazed and learn as we teach him the commandments in preparation for baptism.

I hope everyone is doing well and today I plan on getting back to some of your letters. I'm sorry I'm awful at responding but I will try to catch up today.

I love you all.

Camille

Speaking of letters how weird is it that Spencer is home?!

T4W2 New Companion and Baptismal Date

2009-09-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

This week has been full of news. Thank you Rae and Emma for the letters, and Miriam and Mom for the emails. I can't believe how much is going on back home. I hope everyone is staying cool and working hard. Sounds like everyone is doing good. Tell Dad to give me an update!

The week started off very difficult in several respects. I found strength in my patriarchal blessing and some further scripture study of the ministering of angels. I made a re-commitment to not be discouraged and to fulfill the responsibilities I had been given. The next day we received a phone call from the Assistants notifying us that Hermana Marsh would be emergency transferred. Please don't think it is anything that had to do with me. She was transferred and I received a new companion, Hermana Gurney. She is a tall girl from Provo, UT. She came out to the field the same time as Hermana Dewey and is still learning to be comfortable with her Spanish.

That same day we had interviews with President for the transfer. This new zone (Woodlands Zone) does interviews early on in the transfer. He talked to me about the new and still very great responsibility of practically whitewashing the area. We both came in new and have to learn the area on our own just like when I first came out to Louetta. This time though we have 52 map pages! That means our area is extremely big. To give you an idea, we were allotted 900 miles to drive in Bear Creek and here we are allotted 1700 miles. Sunday was difficult with both of us trying to remember names and be very outgoing to meet people but we have faith that this is what is best for the area.

We met with Ramon on Tuesday. He is the one we found last week knocking doors and had had a Book of Mormon many years ago. He loved attending church and in priesthood they learned about consecration of oil for blessing the sick. We taught him the first lesson and he had bought us a bottle of olive oil. We taught him again Thursday with another member and he had done all of the additional study questions and scripture study that is found in the back of the pamphlets we give people. He was so grateful when we gave him a new Book of Mormon. We set a baptismal date right there for July 12th. He is so prepared. He accepted it without hesitation. I know that there are prepared people in this part of the vineyard.

We taught a man last night named J. Tadeo who also loved our message and expressed a lot of interest in putting his whole might into allowing the gospel change his life. We have been blessed with people to teach this week. I asked the district leader what the average weekly number of lessons has been for the area. He said that the sisters usually taught about 10. We almost reached the goal of 20 lessons this past week with 18 lessons! Hermana Gurney and I have so many goals to get this area in good shape and to baptize! She is a hard worker and know that I am too, so we are excited to prove wrong all of the previous poor expectations that this area has suffered. We know that it is only through our faith and dedication to the work.

Hermana Gurney commented to me that people are more willing to talk to us and open up to us than her past several months in the mission. She thinks it's because of my Spanish. She thinks that we get more opportunities to teach because there is an immediate trust as I can speak the language well. I feel very blessed that the language or even a fear of talking to people are not my weaknesses, though I have many. I am grateful for my continually improving ability to speak the language and I know that it is a gift of the Spirit. I trust that the words will be given me in the very moment they are needed. I know that the Lord qualifies us for the task he gives us as we do our part.

I hope this hasn't bored anyone. Please pray for the missionaries. Our district that covers mostly rich areas continuously struggles to even have one person they are teaching.

I love you all!

Your very dark brown,

Camille

T4W1 Transferred to the Woodlands

2009-09-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone? Thanks for the letter, Rae, and for the update, Mom. It has been quite a week and it sounds like everyone is keeping their summer full. Emma, I want to hear about John's visit. Miriam, you need to tell me about all of your adventures too!

I was transferred from Bear Creek on Wednesday. It was a busy last couple days in the area just saying goodbye to some families and individuals that I had grown close to. An especially good experience was being present for a blessing given to E. Picaso, Antonio's mother. She found out last week that she has cancer and as I bore my last testimony to her, everyone was crying. Hermana Dewey called me this week to let me know that three boys from the Alcantara family that we reactivated are going to be baptized July 5th. I will be returning back to Bear Creek for that. I am excited for that baptism. She also told me that Antonio, who was really progressing and suddenly left for Mexico, was back to take care of his mom in this difficult time. It sounds like Hermana Dewey is keeping Bear Creek in good shape.

The Woodlands is very different from Bear Creek. The first couple days were very hard. Thursday we did weekly planning and only had three, very iffy investigators to plan for. In Bear Creek our list of investigators could go on forever. It seems like last transfer almost nobody was found and the ward has lost all expectations for the sisters' area. The elders area however has the work very strong. We got a talking to, saying we wanted to see more names on our progress record.

My companion is Hermana Marsh who has had difficulties with several of her previous companions. She is from Bend, OR and is a very different sister. She is reserved but strict since day 1 in the area, though I have been overly peppy, excited, and friendly. We've gotten along well I think because of my efforts in that area. Friday after district meeting, we still hadn't taught one investigator all week and she refused to talk to me. She had lost all hope for the area, being here 6 months and having little success. After trying to pry and tell her the importance of communication, we (the zone leaders and I) eventually had to ask the help of President. Apparently she has worked closely with President in the past so they are good friends. He gave her no choice of leaving the area and said she needed to learn to love the area, and some other things that I think made her rethink her attitude.

I talked to President and told him I really think we can baptize here. I have so much faith and hope that there are people in this area that need the gospel at this time. The area is very big because most people are white and rich but there are a few areas we can find Hispanics. We went out and worked and found a couple people that have a lot of potential.

We talked to President again this morning because he called to check up on us and I told him about 3 men we found and taught for the first time last night, a very interested family we taught, and a man we were able to get to church that we tracted into a couple days ago. Hermana Marsh is starting to find it hard to not believe me that this area has potential. I think my silliness and my light humor about baptizing everyone we talk to has helped her. President expressed his gratitude and trust in me this morning for helping take care of Hermana Marsh and the area. He said he knew I was just what was needed here.

I met a lot of the ward members and am very positive about this coming week. I know that we will find success. I have never spent so many hours out in the sun knocking doors but I am learning to love it and to help my companion love me as much as I do her.

We ate dinner at the Bishop's home yesterday. His name is Bishop Good and he is white and the wife is from Argentina. They have 3 teenage kids that I got to be good friends with. They moved to Texas from Pennsylvania a year ago, so they are a very East Coast family. It made me feel at home.

That was pretty much this week. I have some interesting stories of people we knocked into this week but I'll just have to write those to Rae. The district seems cool. It's a lot of new Elders I don't know. We are going to keep working hard this next week and hopefully see some better numbers.

I hope everyone is well. Pray for us and the area please.

Love you.

Camille

T3W6 Victor's Baptism

2009-09-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

So much has happened this week. It flew by--just like this transfer. I can't believe how fast time goes. The biggest news is that we got transfer calls Saturday night. The anticipation was, for some reason, a lot more than usual. I'm getting TRANSFERRED! I'm leaving Hermana Dewey and going to be companions with Hermana Marsh in the area called "The Woodlands/Hardy 3." The area is the richest in the whole mission. It is all very well off people, but Hermana Dewey says I do well with those people. I probably won't be having baptisms every other week like here in Bear Creek but I am excited for the challenge. Elder Lowry, who I served with in Bear Creek last transfer, is also being transferred to the same ward. We are both excited to work together again and have good goals for the work there. It is his last transfer before he goes home so he is very experienced and not trunky.

Wednesday we taught Miriam, who is trying to get a divorce from her emotionally abusive husband. She speaks Portuguese, so I always love teaching her. We have taught her for almost 2 transfers now and her situation with her husband has kept her from progressing. I remember when I told her my sister's name is Miriam. She replied "I just LOVE my name!" We taught her the last of the lessons she needs before baptism and she practically begged us to be baptized. We told her we would discuss the situation with President Hansen. Thursday we had interviews with him and he gave us the go ahead to baptize her without her husband's permission. Usually we don't want to break up families but she is already getting divorce. She needs to come to church a couple more times before we start planning the baptism though. When we told her on Friday what President had said she jumped out of her seat and gave us both hugs and kisses because she was so happy she will be able to be baptized. She saw on TV a documentary about Mormon Pioneers or something and has this dream of living in "Zion" or in a community of all Mormons. We told her there is a very big population in Utah. She wants to move there someday.

Interviews were good. I love that president prayed for me as a wife and mother. Being Hermana Dewey's trainer, she picked up my bad habit of constantly thinking about marriage. We try and perfect ourselves though so we can marry General Authorities. Ha ha. So it's a good thing right?

Anyways, during interviews, after discussing the work in Bear Creek a little and my investigators and how I was doing great, President Hansen thanked me for my work and the success I have helped bring about. He was about to pray to close the interview when he was impressed to discuss a specific subject with me. He said it hadn't been decided yet, but he had been thinking of assigning me a companion that would be a great challenge and responsibility. He explained she is a seasoned missionary, much older than I am but still struggles greatly with the language and has had serious problems with her last several companions. He talked about my nature of hard work and said he feels the Lord has this great responsibility for me ahead.

The Spirit was very strong in that moment. As he said that, I remembered the whisperings of the Spirit as I was receiving training to train Hermana Dewey. President had said to us trainers that your influence on your companion is very important and it is possible that "you will be known as a Savior to them." Those exact words are found in a blessing, in the one line about my mission. "If it be the desire of your heart, the Lord will call you to a Special mission, and you will be known as a Savior to them." More than just bringing investigators to the waters of baptism I could have a lasting impact on my companion. I shared that experience and spiritual impression with President and he explained, "I think the Spirit has just confirmed to me what I should do."

I left the interview with nothing but positive feelings of love for this next companion that I will have. When I received the transfer call, in fact I had received the assignment to be companions with this Sister. I still to this day have no worries about the next transfer. It may be difficult, but I feel the Lord's hand in this work and trust that He will help me.

Last night Victor P. was baptized. He is the brother of Dolores, who we baptized last transfer. It was a double baptism with a man the elders had taught. Dolores baptized Victor and it was a very tender moment. They don't speak much but I could feel the brotherly love as Dolores was able to help his brother experience the joy that he had found. We invited Dolores to share his testimony as part of the program before we sang the closing hymn. He bore his testimony of the happiness he has found as he has been able to share his knowledge of the restored gospel with his brother. As he spoke he struggled to hold back the tears. The presence of the Spirit was so strong.

I am excited for the coming transfer but a bit sad to leave all of the people in Bear Creek I have come to know and love. It is a great ward and I know they will continue to see a lot of success in the growth of the ward.

I hope all is well back home. I pray for everyone constantly. I know the Lord is watching over you.

Camille

T3W5 6 Month Birthday!

2009-09-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Sounds like a lot is going on at home. Make sure to write! I want to hear not just from Mom! Congrats to Rae on getting your permit.

This week we worked hard but are still looking for some good investigators that are ready and prepared to receive the gospel. Victor (brother of Dolores- my first baptism in this area) was interviewed by a counselor in the mission presidency this past Sunday and will be baptized the coming Sunday. President Cue shared with us that we have really helped him make the decision to change his life around. I know that we are merely instruments though and because we were worthy of the presence of the Spirit, he was able to receive that witness that he needed during every lesson we have taught him.

Tuesday was my 6 month birthday. It's crazy to think I only have 2/3 of my mission left. I still feel very young in the mission but really I am one of the more 'seasoned' or 'older' sisters. As I've reflected on the past 6 months I have seen so much growth in my testimony and in myself spiritually. The countless experiences where the Spirit's presence was very strong have been priceless.

This week we went by E. Picazo who loves us and calls us her angels but is stubborn in accepting the story of Joseph Smith. Her son, Antonio, left last week to Mexico to be with his wife and children. He lived with her and kept her company while trying to earn money to send to his own family. We decided to go by because the last lesson we had she was a little more open. When we went by, she invited us in and we decided to sing the hymn, Abide With Me 'Tis Eventide (Conmigo Quedate Senor). It was pretty late and we only had not much time to teach her before we had to get back by curfew. As we sang the song, she started to cry. By the end of the song she was just bawling and could not help herself. Before we sang I shared a story about the song. When I was attending BYUH, Bishop McMurtrey shared a story about how singing that song calmed a storm when they were out on a boat caught in raging waves. Hermana Dewey and I bore our testimony of the comfort the Savior's atonement brings and that today He is at the head of this church with outstretched hands offering His love. The Spirit was so powerful. We invited to her to turn to prayer and read in her Book of Mormon more to be able to fill the void that was was left with Antonio moved out.

We were blessed with the opportunity to serve as we recognized a need for food with a certain family we have been teaching. We gathered all of the cans from our pantry that had been left from previous missionaries and were able to collect a good amount of food for the family just from what we had that was not being used. I also got the package from Mom that morning before we found out. As I was going through it again later that day, I was impressed to put my can of soup (that I was so excited for) and the Sour Patch Kids in the collection of food too. We delivered the food along with another copy of the Book of Mormon so the kids didn't have to share. They were so grateful. Their faces lit up with joy and their expression of gratitude was so heartfelt. My heart was full as we left very quickly being able to impart of our substance to someone in need.

I hope everyone is doing well and doing the things you know you should be doing to be worthy of the Spirit at those times when you will need Him.

I love you all.

Camille

T3W4 Juarez Family Baptism!

2009-09-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone? Did John end up coming today? This week was amazing for me. I hope everyone else had a good week too. Through all of the great experiences I've had this week, I've truly thought about the family and wished you could have experienced them with me.

Late Wednesday night we called to check on the Juarez family to make sure keep their excitement up for their baptism and Hermano informed us that he didn't think he could go through with us. He told us he didn't think he had received a strong witness of everything and was feeling nervous about the whole baptism. We became very concerned and decided to fast for him. Elder Nelson, Hermana Dewey and I fasted until Thursday night. The fast was amazing and although it was hard with the hard work we put forth as missionaries, it was worth it.

We went to the chapel Thursday night to sneak a peek at the Cub Scout Den Meeting. It was the Pine Wood Derby that everyone has been waiting for. Hermano Juarez was a judge and his son Gustavo took second place. There were so many little boys there. A month ago we passed by Hermana Alcantara to invite her to church. She hadn't been in years. She has two boys of scout age and their 11 year old cousin that lives with them too. We reactivated them and got them really active in scouts. They were there and presented the flags and everything! All in all we had 6 investigators at mutual on Thursday night. It was great to be there and cheer them on.

We asked Hermano to talk to Bishop about his worries as they have become friends over the time we have taught them. Bishop agreed to talk to Hermano Juarez after the Pine Wood Derby. Bishop had some other things come up right after the Derby but Hermano waited around until he was available. His wife said he didn't get home until midnight after talking with the Bishop. We talked to Bishop the next day and he said that the Spirit was so strong in their visit. We ended our fast and felt good about the whole situation--that the Lord would have it happen according to his will. I was amazingly no longer concerned and felt a peace that Hermano would make the right decision. If he really wasn't prepared, it was ok.

Friday we had our zone temple trip that we get to take each transfer. Going to the temple was such a special experience. We put Hermano Juarez's name on the prayer roll. In the Celestial Room I felt an overwhelming presence of the Lord. I received an affirmation that He is content with my work here. Many other special things happened on that temple trip. We ate at BJ's Texas Barbecue with the ward where some of the Louetta Ward members work. They remembered me and "hooked us up." They treated us really well. I love the Texas Barbecues here. Brisket is simply delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We returned home from the trip and visited with Hermana Juarez and Diana (age 9). The boys of the family, Gustavo, Julio, and Hermano went on the father-son campout. Hermana informed us that before they left Hermano told her that yes he was going to get baptized. We were sooo happy! He hadn't been very open to her about his feelings about it until that point.

We had the baptism last night. It was such an amazing baptism. The room was packed because everyone was there to support them! People were crying by the end of our special musical number "Divina Luz" performed by the missionaries. When Julio baptized his father, his younger brother, and sister, Hermana Dewey and I almost cried we were so happy for them. We found a picture of the temple at the distribution center when we went to the temple so we will give that to them this week. Pictures of the baptism will be in the mail shortly!

We were sad to hear that Antonio left to Mexico because he was unable to find work here. Two days before we left we taught the word of wisdom and committed him to living it. His mother, Elvia (age 75+), told us that before he left for Mexico he threw away all his cigars and brought his Book of Mormon with him. I just know he will get baptized. Some Elders in Mexico will be so lucky when they receive his information from us.

So much more has happened this week but I'm sure everyone has probably stopped reading this by now. I hope everyone looking to have continual spiritual experiences in their lives as well. We all need spiritual renewal- not just missionaries.

I love you all!

Camille

T3W3 Zone Conference & Mother's Day

2009-09-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

It was so great to hear everyone's voice yesterday. It seems like a dream. Next phone call... Christmas! I think the highlight of the phone call was finding out JC already has grandchildren!!! (Editor's note: JC does not have grandchildren, he has a child.) I wonder if that is the case with all my other ex-boyfriends. While it was good to talk, I soon realized why communication is limited. It is really important to maintain a strict focus on the work. Losing that spirit by distracted attention to things of the world is what Satan wants on the mission.

We had a really good zone conference this past week. President Hansen focused his remarks on the conference talk by Kevin W. Pearson on the 6 Destructive Ds. These consequentially effect our eye of faith and lead to the 6th D of "disbelief." If I were to think of a 7th destructive D it would be Dad. Ha ha. The conference helped us with our Spiritual Renewal. I encourage everyone to review that talk and think about how much more frequently can you use spiritual renewal in your life. By avoiding these destructive factors and allowing for daily spiritual renewal we increase our faith. I have seen my faith grow exponentially and I truly believe it is because of the 3 hours of study we do each day. Some of the elders know really deep doctrinal stuff- about the last days Gog and Magog, Kokaubeam, etc. Some day maybe I will have all that knowledge too. I know the simple stuff though and that is a good start.

After zone conference we have a lunch usually and they give out birthday presents and a couple awards. We have a car inspection and Hermana Dewey and I won cleanest car!!! We got to sign the golden hubcap and received a $20 gift card to Subway. Woo hoo! Of course we will use it to treat our district to lunch after district meeting this week. With $5 foot-longs $20 goes a long way!

We had 7 new investigators this week. Half of them we found while tracting. They let us in and we were able to teach a lesson. We are very hopeful for these children of Heavenly Father that were put in our path. The Spirit is so strong during the first lesson. I love it.

Last week we were invited to tag along with the elders to dinner at a member's home. They have the rich side of the ward. The Montano family's home was huge. They fed us really fancy food and sent us on our way with praline treats. Ironically, they have lived many years in Silver Spring! That is where they joined the church. They love me because I am a Marylander too. They are from Nicaragua. He told us this story of his boss in Maryland being LDS in his first job there in MD. Several years later he (Hermano Montano) had joined the church. He had come straight from the temple and was wearing his suit when he ran into this boss who had become inactive. The boss was surprised when he asked what it was that changed his life around.

Anyways, Hermano Montano and his wife gave us a ton of delicious food (tostadas y frijoles molidos) yesterday after church and he accompanied us to our appointment with a man named Antonio last night. Me and him are pretty much best friends forever. (Editor's note: I would change this, but it's so Camille I had to leave it.) My companions have noticed I get along really well with hispanos but especially the rich ones. Antonio is really close to getting baptized. It was a really good lesson. We found him after receiving a bad referral and deciding to knock the houses around it. He answered the door with his shirt off and wearing a lot of jewelry. He reminded me of a Mexican version of Joe Junior from While You Were Sleeping. Hermana Hollenbaugh wanted to give him to the elders immediately but I partly joking said I saw him to be our next baptism. We found he was a very respectful man that works gold soldering. He showed us his shop and everything after Hermana Hollenbaugh left. He has such a testimony of the Book of Mormon and is well on his way to baptism.

Mother's Day was good. The elder's quorum took over the Primary and YW so all the women were in Relief Society for a special program from the bishopric. Then to finish the primary came in and sang with gifts for their mothers. Sacrament was devoted to mothers as well. I am thankful for my mother, her example and testimony. Thank you for everything.

I hope all is well. I continue to pray for each one of you family members. Make good choices.

Love,

Camille

T3W2 Lots of Rain Damage

2009-05-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Sounds like everyone is keeping pretty busy this summer. I like reading the family newsletter because there is stuff in there about the family that I haven't heard yet. This Sunday is Mother's day!! That means that we can celebrate Mom but it also means that I can call home!! I am allowed to call home for 59 minutes and I think I'll call after everyone gets home from church and before Dad leaves for work. I'm way excited. Everyone else better be too!!

Monday after going to our P-day activity at Bear Creek Park (Katy Zone vs. Cypress Zone in capture the flag) we got home just in time before the big part of the storm hit. Our power was out for quite a bit and our parking lot was totally flooded. That night we woke up at 3:30am to thunder and lightening. It was going off every second for a couple hours. Our bedroom was like a strobe light. We had to call and wake up the elders because it was really bad where we lived. The storm flooded several members houses and schools were closed for a couple days. Lots of roads were closed and the park where we had played capture the flag flooded to the tops of soccer goal posts. It is still flooded but the road is open now so you can drive by and see the lake that was once a park.

We had zone meeting this week. Elder AhSue gave a very powerful talk. He spoke in a very loving manner about us in the pre-existance all waiting to come to earth after having chosen the plan. He reminded us that there we probably had hopes that we would do great things in this life, including making good choices and living a Christlike life. I imagined it so vividly. I'm sure each one us knew there would be hard times, but still have a hope that we would find the way through Christ to overcome them. He then related this to the mission. He reminded us of that time before we came out- perhaps as we waited for our mission call or before entering the MTC when we didn't know exactly what to expect but we hoped for baptisms, lessons filled with the spirit, coming to love the people, and working hard all day long. He said when we opened our call, the first thing we hoped/looked forward to out in the field probably wasn't sleeping in, spending lazy days in the apartment, goofing off and spending too much time at members' homes, amazing p-days, etc. He reminded us to be the obedient and perfect missionary we had hoped we would be in that pre-mission innocence. I think that first example is very powerful for non-mission life. We need to come through and actually be that obedient, honest, hard working, kind, charitable, humble person that we hoped we would be here on earth when we received our call to come to earth after choosing this plan. So be that person you wanted to be many years ago!

The Juarez family had their baptismal interviews yesterday. We were excited when everything turned out fine. They still have two weeks until the baptism and we know Satan is going to work at Hermano Juarez. His weakness is the word of wisdom and the kids are good about calling him out if he slipped and had a cup of coffee. The youngest, Gustavo- age 8, reminds me so much of you, Ben! I pick on him a lot but yesterday he had on his suit ready for his interview and he was giving me attitude and I felt like it was something Ben would have said! His primary class is him and 6 or 7 girls. They have fun pretending not to like him. We taught him and his sister Diana (age 9) Dippy Dippy Dip and another version of that game with Ninja sounds and movements. I am going to miss this family if I ever get transferred.

We are working hard and still trying to find more investigators. I am learning so much still. I have learned a lot of deep doctrinal stuff but I have also grown my testimony of the simple principles of the restored gospel such as I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father. I hope everyone knows and remembers that. I will talk to y'all Sunday.

Love, Camille

T3W1 New Transfer

2009-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone! Congrats on the PR Rae and to Clarissa on the job with Bearman. The weather here in Houston/Katy is gorgeous. We are going to play Capture the Flag today with our zone against our neighboring zone. It should be a lot of fun.

This week we visited a lot of people so Hermana Hollenbaugh could say good-bye before she left. We sent her off on the transfer bus on Wednesday and got back to work. We decided we would focus this transfer on doing more tracting. The whole last transfer we visited people that were not progressing and we decided to change that this transfer and find a new set of investigators. We went tracting several hours this week and it was really successful. We have appointments set this week coming up so we will see if they are the one prepared by the Lord in answer to our prayers.

Hermana Dewey and I got a keyboard from some elders and have been having a lot of fun with it. If I play one hand and she plays the other, we can play all of the hymns in the hymn book perfectly.

Thursday we stopped by the church and it happened to be mutual night. We saw two of our investigators Jose and Rafael-two teenage boys, all sweaty and bonded with the other young men. It made us so happy! They got signed up for scouts and sucked into being on the soccer team too! I bet they didn't know church meant more than just Sundays.

The Juarez family will be baptized on the 17th of May. We realized Julio, the oldest son will turn 16 on the 10th of May and he will be able to baptize his father and his two younger siblings. We also got a baptism date with Victor, the brother of Dolores who got baptized just a couple weeks ago.

I hope you all liked the pictures. Mom made this comment in a card she sent "that picture of you prego was quite disturbing." Haha. What's funny is we received a referral and went to go contact it and it was this very animated lady who had been taught before. She showed us her Book of Mormon that she reads everyday. Her problem is coming to church because she works on Sundays. Anyways, I was wearing the same yellow shirt and she asked me if I was "embarazada" or Pregnant!!! I was so embarrassed! I told her no - she still wasn't convinced and told me I have a beautiful face, I just need to lose a bit of the fat around it!! Ironically I've lost quite a bit of weight. I'm running my mile in 7 min and 34 sec!! (Don't laugh but that's good for me!) We told this less active girl that we visit, Sandy, and she assured me it was just the cut of the shirt and I shouldn't worry.

We are in a prank war with the elders in the district. (Big surprise huh?) Sandy helped us come up with something we will do today. DON'T WORRY MOM! We are still working hard and it's all within reason. Friday after district meeting, the district was going to Wendys, we thought they were waiting for us so we could follow them but when we turned on the car a huge cloud of flour blew into our faces. They had turned the A/C on high and pointed it right at where we would sit. This morning we went and wrapped their car in plastic wrap. 600 feet of plastic wrap!! We had one set of elders help us but little do they know we have something for them later today. Sandy works at Buffalo Wild Wings where all the elders like to eat. They do something called the Blazin' Challenge. It's the most spicy of their 15 different kinds of wings. She told us to be careful a million times because if you're not Mexican, it can do some bad damage. Haha. We'll see how they like it later today.

We had a meeting with the bishopric and ward mission leader Saturday night. They are excited and expressed their trust and support for us this coming transfer- especially with Elder Nelson training. We have a really young set of missionaries in our ward. Elder Nelson- the really blonde one from my district pic that I sent is training Elder Lang who just got here from the MTC this week. We speak better Spanish so we're trying to help them out. The Spirit in the meeting was very strong. We each shared our testimony and it was another confirmation to me that I am in the right place. I know with all my heart this gospel changes lives and is the only way we can receive exaltation. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here and I appreciate the support of you, my family. Thank you for everything!

Love you,
Camille

T2W6 Yessica's Baptism

2009-05-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone? What are the plans for summer? Clarissa are you back at Chevys? How is the job for Emma? What is Miriam doing? Can you believe yesterday was my 5 month birthday in the mission!? We found out about transfers this week and I am staying in the same area- Bear Creek for at least the next 6 weeks with my baby Hermana Dewey. Hermana Hollenbaugh is being transferred to the ghetto-est part of the mission to open a new area with a really fun Sister. We are excited to for the next transfer it will be a lot of fun.

Last night I had my second baptism! Her name is Yessica C and she is 27 years old. We have worked so hard preparing her for baptism and it was such a great experience last night. Her mom was baptized almost 2 years ago and she bore her testimony for the Holy Ghost talk and it was so powerful. Her mom and her were crying as us sister missionaries sang a musical number "Venid a Cristo" or "Come Unto Jesus." We had two of our investigators at the baptism and we think they really enjoyed it so we might just have several more baptisms in the near future. Her mom made this almond cake and sandwiches for refreshments. It was a beautiful baptism.

Last P-day (Monday) the elders invited us to their barbeque and when we got there they had set up a really intricate prank that dropped water balloons on us from the ceiling in front of their door step. They video taped it and everything. They say they were fulfilling their purpose by doing everything in their power to "baptize". Haha. If anyone has any ideas- let me know- we are trying to get them back! Two of them are getting transferred on Wednesday and we are sad. Elder Lawry and Elder Nelson are the other Spanish elders in our district that also serve in our same ward-Bear Creek 2 and so we see them very often. Elder Lawry is leaving but Elder Nelson is training this transfer so him and I both will be with our babies.

Last week we stopped by an inactive member we found on the ward list. Hermana Alcantara- she is good looking and lives in a big fancy house. She came to church for the first time in years yesterday because of our invitation and she has a few boys that are getting started in scouts too. The Lord really guides us to the people that need us! She loved church and we hope this means she is reactivated. Maybe we'll get to baptize the sons!

We worked hard this week and taught some great lessons even despite the rain. We were driving in water 3/4 up our tires. We met an old man named Facundo that invited us to the beaches in Acapulco. We also had interviews with President. He asked me about each one of you and I'm sad to say I didn't know what was going on with everyone. Please fill me in!

I am grateful for the sacrament. We truly can be cleansed through it if we repent and allow the atonement to take effect. I am not perfect and have so many weaknesses but the whole plan of salvation is about being able to progress. That is the purpose of this life but also it is what differentiates the celestial kingdom for the others. There we will still be able to progress until we ourselves have our own kingdoms.

Hope all is well! Ciao!

Camille

T2W5 Exchanges in West Green

2009-05-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone?! I can't believe Clarissa is home for the summer already. Miriam, I am glad you had a bumpin' birthday. Haha. I just wanted to clear up a joke I made a few weeks ago about Rae kissing someone. She didn't just kiss one boy. She kissed two! Haha. Just kidding. We found some bubbles today and the elders invited us to their barbeque so it should be a good p-day. The weather is gorgeous.

We have some investigators that are really progressing. This one that was referred to us from one of our member friends is named Angelica. We have been teacher her and her "husband" and just this week we taught the law of chastity and this weekend we found out that she moved out because they weren't married. She is a hair stylist and we have made good friends so it will be sad if I have to leave.

We find out this weekend about transfers and I really have a feeling I am leaving again based on the situation with the other Spanish Sisters. We'll see though.

This week we did exchanges. In the Katy Zone where I am right now, we are far from the city so we have to just do exchanges with the one other companionship of Spanish sisters in our zone. Their area is West Green. Hermana Dewey and I went to be companions with Hermana Willis who I met in the MTC. She came out the transfer before me and wrote me while I was still in the MTC. We get along well together. Anyways, the exchange was really fun. I love change and especially getting the chance to learn from another Sister's teaching style. She made us cookie dough brownies that were delicious. We taught some really good lessons where the Spirit was really strong. They have some really great investigators there too! Funny thing though- she got a huge envelope of pictures of her best friend's wedding while we were there. I was thumbing through them just glancing and she says "hey the groom is actually from DC too."

I say "oh yeah? what's his name?"

"Gary Anderton," she says.

"AHHHHH!!! He licked the chalk board when I was in primary!" I said. It was really crazy. I looked at the picture I was holding and there he was! Crazy!!!

The zone leaders found out we had exchanged and arranged for us to play poison at the stake center for exercise the next morning. There are 4 other companionships that live close by the Katy Stake Center so we all got there at 6:00am and played this game that our zone plays every p-day down at the stake center called Poison. It's dodgeball with a few more rules. It was really fun because we had only gotten to know all those elders a little bit before that. We switched back to our normal area of Bear Creek on Wednesday.

Yesterday when we went out contacting/tracting we found a lot of latinos in this one trailer park celebrating Easter with colored powder and confetti. It was smeared all over their faces. They invited us to play with them. We had to decline (they had beer) but got several appointments set with some new people for the next week.

Dolores got confirmed yesterday and we will have another baptism this coming Sunday for a 27 year old girl named Yessica (Jessica). We are all excited. We worked really hard preparing her for the interview and after deliberation between the bishop and the Mission President we are able to go through with it.

Please offer to go out with the missionaries!! We always need a member testimony or a familiar face when the investigator gets to church on Sunday. I love you guys! I love this work and and I am grateful to be in the service of the Lord. I know that He is at the head of this, His church on the earth today.

Love, Cam

T2W4 Temple and General Conference

2009-05-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I receive this email today from Mom about a rental car and had to go search through the Dukelow newsletter to read about the Hawaii trip. I feel so out of the loop! Don't forget about me!!! I hope you guys enjoy it. Happy Belated Birthday to Mom (did you like the card I sent?) and Happy Birthday to Miriam!!! I read the story about the nail artwork in the newsletter too. That was pretty funny.

This week has been full! We taught a lot like usual and had some really great lessons where the spirit was really there. My favorite family that we are teaching is the Juarez family (if we can have favorites). The last Saturday before this transfer, Hna. Hollenbaugh and her companion stopped by to invite Hna. Juarez and their oldest son Julio to church because they saw their names on the ward list but had never seen them at church. He is 15 years old and does karate and plays trombone. Hermana Juarez and Julio were baptized five years ago in another ward but have not been active since they were baptized. The father was supposed to get baptized with them but could not go through with it when the date came. The whole family, Hno. and Hna., Julio, and the two little kids Diana (age 9) and Gustavo (age 8) came to church that Sunday after Hna. Hollenbaugh and McMurtrey passed by and invited them. Since then, they have gone to everything! All the activities, church, conference, the baptisms! After working with them for the whole month, yesterday we were able to set a baptism date with Hermano Juarez to be baptized with the two kids!! They feed us a lot and Hermana has a purse fettish that I can relate to. Yesterday they made my favorite tacos with barbacoa meat. Monday we had delicious tortas with the Bishops family! I am glad we get fed authentic food because I just found out Sister Hansen (President's wife) doesn't want us eating at the taco trucks for safety reasons.- probably one of the hardest rules of the mission!

Friday this week we went to the temple with out zone. I love the temple. It was such a great experience. I went in having prayed for more understanding. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for but my experience there was amazing and I feeling like I have such a greater appreciation for Christ as my Mediator with the Father. Last transfer the temple was across the street from my area's border and now we have to drive quite a bit to get there. We had a testimony meeting right before the session and I bore my testimony of the joy I receive from this work. I received a letter from Ashley Cooper saying she was putting her papers in and asking me for advice. It made me think of just six months ago when I had the same questions. It is indescribable though the joy I've had for example when Dolores came up out of the water, when I are teaching the Juarez family and Hermano Juarez agreed to be baptized or even yesterday when we went to go teach a young girl and the whole household of 10 people sat in and listened. We asked each one of them how they felt and they said they felt so good about the first vision being true!

To finish the week I just loved general conference. I had to watch a couple of the sessions in Spanish because we had investigators there. That was fine. I think all of the talks really speak to how the heavens are still open and how much we still need revelation to guide us in all of these difficulties of the economy and temptations that keep us from being firm in the faith. I especially like the Provident living talk and Holland's talk about our Savior Jesus Christ.

The elders in our ward have a bread machine so they are always making us food and we tried to return their container with some chocolate no-bakes but totally ruined them TWICE! If you have any other easy ideas let me know. Last transfer Hna. Draney and I bought some $1 silly string at Walmart so that plus post-it notes on the cars made for a fun April Fools. It's probably my fav holiday ever. I hope everyone is doing well. I love you guys and will get some pictures printed and in the mail today!

Ciao!
Camille

T2W3 My First Baptism!

2009-05-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Family,

How is everyone? I hope all is going well. Mom and Miriam's birthdays are coming up. Yayyy! This week has been great.

We had 12 new investigators that pretty much all seem promising. I think my favorite part of the mission so far has been teaching a first lesson and just seeing the eyes of the investigator light up as they feel the power of the story of the first vision. One of these lessons this week was a member referral from Hermana Medina. We had dinner with her and her husband last week and shared member missionary plan outlined by Elder Bednar to ask with faith specifically for missionary opportunities. Two days later we called to ask her to accompany us to an appointment and she said she had a referral for us. She was able to start a religious discussion that day with the stylist when she was getting her hair done and found someone who was being prepared by the Lord to hear our message. We called her up immediately and set an appointment. In spite of her hesitancy whether her husband would be supportive of her learning or not, he was the one that was asking if it was alright with her if they had us return to teach more! We found several other similar situations this week and I just love how powerful the Spirit is in testifying of the what we teach!

Saturday the English stake in which we live hosted a 5k Family Fun Day for the community. All of us missionaries in the Katy Zone were invited to come help as well as work the booth "1 Min or Less: Ask a Mormon!" We had to be there at 6:30am so we woke up at 5am. Some other elders that live quite a bit further than us had to wake up even earlier. It was a fun day. I loved seeing all the adults show up in their running garb. I thought about Rae when I saw all of these people sporting their marathon paraphernalia. After the race there were several booths setup in the cultural hall- like free 5 min massage, blood testing, finger printing, emergency preparedness, fitness advice hosted by LA Fitness, and more. Outside they had healthy snacks and games, fire trucks and a moon bounce. It was a great activity.

Yesterday was the highlight of the week. I had my first baptism! We baptized a man named Dolores that Hermana Hollenbaugh and Hermana McMurtrey (her previous companion/trainer who just went home) had found when tracting in a trailer park. He says that while he usually just spends time inside he was constrained to get some fresh air when the answer to his prayers came. He is a great example to me. The baptism started almost an hour late because the Hermano that was going to baptize him needed to get his clothes. However, Dolores was very patient and loved the hymns we sang to pass the time. There was a good turn out from the ward. Just in the past couple of lessons, we found a bit of interest in his brother and have taught him a couple times. He was able to be at the baptism to support him. He was so happy afterwards. We had refreshments and mingled and it was an amazing feeling for me to see someone so clean and ready to continue on with a life of learning in the church, now with the necessary ordinance of baptism.

I am enjoying my time in Texas even though it was pretty rainy this week. All of the Hispanics ask me where I am from as if I am one and I have to explain that I'm not. Most don't believe me but that's good- it means my Spanish is getting good enough to fool some into thinking I'm native. Haha. Oh, and Hermana Dewey has family that has lived on Udall Street in Mesa for many many years. I had to laugh.

I love this work and this gospel. Everyday counts, especially when we're on the Lords time- but I've noticed with our investigators the principle that President Monson taught last conference something about 'too many tomorrows makes a lot of empty yesterdays.' If you have things to get done. Do it now. I love you guys.

!Que les vaya bien!
Camille

T2W2 Nacho and Alva Baptized!

2009-05-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone? I guess Emma is in NC? Miriam how are youuuu? Did you get my letter?! I still haven't taken pictures with my new/semi-new companions sorry. We have been working hard as usual. I am finally at a computer where I can see the pictures Clarissa sent with her and Miriam. Looks way fun... not gonna lie, it made me feel weird seeing you guys actually touching a guy. That's not allowed in the mission. Haha.

It is hard writing this email without my journal in front of me. I lost my journal last week and someone in a ward way far away took it with them from the Stake Center so I haven't been able to get it back. Last Monday we met up with most of the zone at the Stake Center to play this game they play every p-day called Poison. It's like dodge ball. The elders have no fear in pelting the balls at us two sisters who were brave enough to play. It is a whole new group of elders that I hadn't met before this transfer but they all seem like fun. I've been getting to know them pretty fast.

Just yesterday there was a stake fireside for recent converts and investigators in my old chapel hosted by my old Louetta ward. Just before that Alva and Nacho got baptized! I wasn't able to attend the baptism because my ward meets from 3pm-6pm. It's way late. We did get to go to the fireside though and Alva and Nacho were there. It made me tear up to see them so clean and living their new life. Their son Angel was taking millions of pictures of me. We were also able to see all of the other Spanish Missionaries that are in the city that we never see. That means my madre Hermana Draney! It made me homesick to see a lot of the ward members there. I miss that ward.

We have a baptism this Sunday! His name is Dolores and every time we teach him he is just great even when it is going to be difficult for him. He committed to paying a full tithe even though he struggles to pay for other necessities. He's told us about several times in his life when he almost died but was miraculously saved. We tell him that Heavenly Father must have some great purpose for his life.

I am getting to know the ward members in the Bear Creek II ward slowly but surely. I made friends with this older sister- Sister Luna- after Relief Society last Sunday and she invited us over to eat on Saturday. She is from Nicaragua but we call her a viajona because she travels like crazy! She lives in this big fancy house and has been to NYC, SLC, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua all in the past year or so. Her and I are like BFF because I told her about my NYC Chinatown experiences and she new exactly what I was talking about. My companions just had to sit back and listen. She piled our plates really high with delicious food and we literally could not walk afterwards because we had to eat everything. Sister Luna and I will probably be friends forever.

It is amazing to me still how I am able to speak this language-how I can carry on conversations about Chinatown and listen to broadcasts, read the scriptures, etc. There are several Americans in the ward that married people from their missions. Interesting huh?

My companionship has been an experience! Hermana Dewey and I probably just missed each other so many times when were at BYU. We've found so many mutual friends and talked about certain parties that we were both at! Heremana Hollenbaugh and I still have a lot of differences but it is good that we have Hermana Dewey there to make us laugh about things. That was something we didn't ever do in the MTC.

I hope everyone is doing well. Our ward mission leader told us about his brother who was a bishop, had several stake callings, and converted over hundreds of people on his mission. His brother this week decided he did not believe the church to be true anymore. I think this is the reason why enduring to the end is so important. When we have made a covenant with the Lord- there can be nothing worse that not keeping our promise. I know this church is true with all my heart.

Love, Camille

T2W1 Bear Creek!

2009-03-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Thanks, Mom, for your email today. I haven't heard from anyone all week but that's mostly my fault because I didn't get my address to you. I hope everyone is well and I hope, Emma- you tell me about your new job, and Miriam- your trip home and Rae- that boy that you kissed last night. (Editor's note: Rae would like to explain that she did NOT kiss a boy last week, or last night, and that this is an example of Camille's humor.)

Bear Creek is no Louetta but I am growing to like it more. I got really attached to Louetta because it is where I was born and Hermana Draney and I had fun getting to know everyone so quick. Bear Creek is out in Katy, which is far from pretty much everyone else. That means for P-day I don't get to go into the city and play with all the rest of the missionaries like last transfer. Because of that, the Katy zone gets pretty close supposedly. We will go out to the stake center in a bit to meet them. Apparently they play this game called "Poison" every single week. It's like dodge ball I hear. Last P-day we had a district P-day one last time as a district and made salsa, guacamole, played basketball, ate pizza and watched the Work and the Glory.

Wednesday I rode out here to Katy with a few other missionaries that got transferred here. Thursday, Hermana Hollenbaugh and I went up to President's house for breakfast to meet our Greenie. Our new companion is Hermana Dewey. She grew up in Fredricksburg, VA and knows Dustin's friend, Ali. The last couple years in high school her family moved to Chile so she was able to learn Spanish pretty well there. It is definitely different with a trio, especially in training, but we have had some fun times already this transfer. We are in a tiny one bedroom apartment so our beds are all lined up in a row with about an inch between them.

We had two people with baptism dates coming into this transfer and now have one more. I am very excited. All of the investigators we have seem very nice and we are hoping to have some success with them as they pray to receive their confirmation of what we teach them. This one less active family came to church two weeks ago and Hermana Hollenbaugh and McMurtrey setup an appointment with them. We went by to teach and apparently only two of the five are baptized. The whole family came to church again this Sunday and the kids have all agreed to be baptized. The dad is very close! They even came to this activity a couple days ago to watch the Testaments with the ward. It has been a little tough getting started this transfer I think just because we don't have an Hermana Draney who knows everything to lead the way but it is definitely causing me to grow in humility as well as responsibility.

It has been raining so much this week but even in spite of that we were able to find a couple people on the street to help and set appointments up with. I truly believe that everybody needs this message and it is so important we can let one person pass by without giving the the opportunity to listen.

Elder Olive from Kahuku was at the training we received on Thursday morning because he got a greenie this transfer. He is up in College Station in the University ward. I asked him about K. He asked me how I knew him and I responded that we dated a little before my mission. After some hesitation he answered me about how K was doing and he said K's become inactive and does not come to church anymore. It struck me with this immense sadness. I can't believe how this could happen because I always felt like my spirituality level would never reach the greatness of his. Anyways I told Elder Olive to take his greenie, to use my name, and go reactivate him. I really hope he can remember the joy the gospel brings and the importance of enduring to the end.

I love you all. Ciao!

Camille

T1W6 I'm PREGO!!!

2009-03-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam-

Can you all believe I am finished with my first transfer in the field already?!? Crazy huh?! The biggest news is that I'm PREGNANT! That means that I'm having a baby- or in other words- I'll be training this transfer!

I found out Friday morning that I'll be going out to this ward, Bear Creek, to be in a trio with Hermana Hollenbaugh and a greenie and we will be training her together. Everyone is so surprised--especially me because we both have only 1 transfer under us and there are several other older sisters in the mission. Hermana Draney is training again this transfer too. The greenie that Hermana Hollenbaugh and I are getting was a surprise and President just found out last week because she did the advanced Spanish class at the MTC. That means the missionary is only in the MTC for 3 weeks bc they already know the language. We hear she is from Chile so I am excited. President says this came as a big surprise to him too- that I would be training- but he says it shows that the Lord has a lot of trust in me and he respects that. It is really unheard of to be training this early on in the mission- I think it is a first. It will also be interesting reliving the Hermana Hollenbaugh sega but I think it will be good- I get a second chance to really start over and have a good relationship. I have been focusing on humility and this is exactly what I was asking for. When we were in the MTC together we taught really well and worked hard so I think we will be able to bring the Spirit to the lessons.

I am sad to leave Nacho and Alva. I will send some pictures from the Boda. We had it Friday night. Their 4 year old son Angel helped her pick out a dress. It was a fabulous event if I do say so myself. They will be baptized the Sunday after the next and unfortunately I won't be there to see it but when we taught them last night they said they would miss me and have loved having me. I've gotten really close with the kids. We had decorations, a dinner, a huge turn-out, some hoppin latin music with a serious sound system and a huge tres leches tiered cake! The relief society was amazing in volunteering their talents to help us.

The Bear Creek ward has several baptism dates set for the next few weeks when I will be there to "reap the harvest." Even though I am not the one that planted the seed and did the teaching, I know that these baptisms I should embrace with all my heart just as if they were my gators (investigators). Bear Creek is out in Katy which is a town outside the city that is more established and is not pure ghetto like here in Louetta. It will be a new experience.

Last p-day we played raquetball and Hermana Draney was intramural champ at BYU and with my tennis skills we pretty much crushed everyone. Haha. It was fun but we were both sore the next day. We work very hard and have constantly taught 20+ lessons each week all transfer. Today our district is having a salsa competition. I'm a bit scared because their going for spicy and we all know how that goes over with me. This week we ate with a member from Ecuador and she made us bamboo. It was..... interesting. Alva and Nacho also made us this Mexican dish called Menudo which is also something I just had to down without saying anything.

I love this work. What helps me is to think of how I am accountable to the Lord for this little piece of his garden he as entrusted me to tend. At the end of the transfer looking back I know I have done my best and labored without ceasing to bring these souls unto Him.

I hope everyone is well. I love you guys.

Ciao.

Camille

T1W5 Stake Conference!

2009-03-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

The attached pictures is just from my MTC district in the MTC. An elder sent it to me so I thought I'd forward it on. This week flew by. I can't believe it snowed back home. Sounds like things are happening though: Dad's trip, Miriam's trip, Emma's new job etc.. Now we just need Clarissa to get married or something. Haha.

So, the week started off great with a zone p-day at a member's home. It was a lot of fun. They had pool and a movie theater. A pool too but we we can't swim. Haha. (Editor's note: I know, I know, she already said they had a pool, but again, essence of Camille. I'd rather leave it.) We had interviews with the president and his wife. The best part of the interview is the end where he prays. He prayed for me and for the family specifically. It was very sincere and specific that you guys will receive the blessings that come from me serving diligently. The spirit was so powerful as he prayed. He served in Hawaii so he likes to hear me tell him about Clarissa's experiences there. I told him how you've picked up a little bit of pigeon and he busted out in some pigeon. It was pretty hilarious because he's a very polished guy. Anyways, also during the interview he asked if I had any needs--I told him I would like to stay with Hermana Draney so we can see these baptisms happen that are coming up. He explained to me the situation that they have 5 new Spanish sisters coming in this transfer so they need trainers so I might have a "greenie breaker" next week- we'll see!

This week we were teaching a family and the father came in just completely drunk. We were teaching the law of chastity to the mother, asking her to get married to the father of her kids who she lives with and she was explaining to us that she's been thinking of separating from him because he is always drunk. When he walked in I felt this awful sadness. I knew she had desires to raise her family in the Church before but because her husband was always drunk come Sunday morning they could never make it to church. It is hard when that kind of situation comes up. We are not there to break up families but we are hoping to work with the father to overcome the drinking. It is amazing how important the law of chastity is, as well as the word of wisdom.

We had stake conference yesterday which was downtown because we are in a Spanish stake and it covers a huge area. The stake center is down in the Galleria area, which is a really nice part of the city. It reminded me of DC instead of Mexico. Haha. It was a televised conference to the members in Texas, OK, and NM. The speaker was a surprise. It happened to be Quintin Cook, Uchtdorf, and Richard Edgely. President Uchtdorf ironically talked about preparing to serve a mission. He talked about how every home should have Preach My Gospel and try to incorporate something from there in FHE. We were listening to it translated into Spanish. It was great to see so many Hispanic families there. The conference was great and we were able to see all of the Spanish Missionaries and even Spanish Missionaries from the other missions in Houston.

Buenas Noticias! Or Good News! This friday night our investigators Alva and Nacho are getting married!!!! That means that two weeks from then they will be baptized. Hermana Draney and I are sooo excited. Alva is so excited too. She has been waiting for this day (when Nacho's heart would be softened by the Lord) for a long time. He is so ready to be baptized now. He participates in our lessons and has changed his life for the gospel. You can see the change it has made in their family. We read the record from other missionaries that tried to teach them and he was just stubborn and not willing to even listen.

I hope all is well and it is great to hear from everyone. I love you!

Camille

T1W4 Being a Missionary is Awkward!

2009-02-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone? Thank you for the valentines, letters, packages, etc. All of the candy is already gone I'm ashamed to say--but good thing we run every morning. I've lost some weight through all of it! This week has flown by.

Last p-day we played tennis with some elders that live in a really nice area. It made my month! I'm pretty rusty but it was ok because I think Ben is even better than these elders.

The highlight of the week was going to the temple. Once a transfer we have the chance to go with our zone to do a session. It was interesting this time because the sign-language elders are in our Zone. There is a deaf branch that meets in the same chapel as us. One of the sign-language elders is deaf. It's even more interesting that in his spare time he has learned quite a bit of Mexican sign language. That's when they get to work with us Spanish missionaries.

Anyway, back to the temple. We had a special session for the deaf elder. It was great to sit in the Celestial Room where the Spirit is so strong and receive revelation for specific people we are teaching.

One of the families we are teaching, Nacho and Alva, have to get married before they get baptized. I put their names on the prayer roll at the temple and the next Wednesday we found out that they had gotten their marriage license! They have a few things to work through before the wedding happens, but they have to do it within the next 30 days, so we are excited to be planning a wedding. They both want to get baptized and have two sons that are so cute!

We made 20 lessons again this week.

We taught a really nice family this week for the second time and we brought a member that was really excited to go with us, Hermano Robles. It turned out to be a very interesting lesson. He probably invited the family to church 20+ times and told them the church is true--double that. Even still, we are grateful.

I love the taco trucks down here. Every block there are these buses/trucks turned into a on-the-go taco stand. They sell all different kinds of meat and put this delicious meat with some fresh avacado on a warm tortilla- 2/$1.50. We like the fajita meat and the barbacoa (pork) the best. The also have these tortas which are like the same meat except on bread. Oh yeah and paletas- these ice cream type bars that everyone likes. I'm not too much of a fan.

This week I really learned what it was like to recognize the spirit leave. As we began teaching this one 20 year old boy he had already listened to the testigos de jehovah- or Jehovah's Witness. He asked us a lot of questions with his already preconceived notions. It was very clear when we would invite the Spirit back with a scripture or refusing to argue. Something I like that we do is sing at every lesson. We carry our hymn books and ask them to sing to. It is funny because for most of our investigators it is very awkward. Being a missionary is all about being awkward.

Anyways I hope all is well back home. And thank you for you love and support again. We have a Zone p-day up at a members house with food and pool so I'm excited.

Love Camille

Oh and p.s., my comp is beginning to see my loopy/crazy laughing attack side that you guys all love. Pray for her. Haha.

T1W3 Personal Records!

2009-02-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Mom and Dad, thank you for the Valentines package. I loved everything there. It's funny how well you know me. The cd, soup, sheet music, gummy hearts, knee highs, pin--everything! Hna. Draney and I enjoyed the cookies and brownies the second I opened the box. I wore the blouse yesterday to Church and everyone loved it.

I've pretty much been pulled in as the ward chorister for everything--the YW musical number, sacrament meeting, and Relief Society. Hermana Draney has been pulled in as the accompanist for everything too. The Bishop always tells us how much he appreciates our help. We are hoping to teach the women how to lead music at an upcoming enrichment.

Texas is great. The land isn't too pretty--and I haven't seen a white person who isn't a missionary in a couple weeks now--but I am loving the work. Everywhere we go people pretty much just follow us because they want to learn more. The mission has a goal of 20 lessons a week. Our zone's average goal is 12 lessons a week. The week before last we got 19 lessons. We tried so hard this week and finished with 21 lessons and 14 new investigators. These were both personal records for Hermana Draney even with over a year in the mission! I refused to negotiate lower when setting goals for this coming week so we're going for even higher and better. Haha.

This week was full of teaching! We are working with the members a lot more and it is helping our investigators get to know the church. Monday night very late we got a call from the Zone Leaders. They exchanges planned for the next day. Hna. Draney says that usually you know way before hand but this was very surprising. What was even more surprising that me- the Greenie- was the one to stay in the area. Hna. Draney says she thinks they were testing me. That meant I was the senior companion- and had to lead the lessons, get us to all the appointments and deal with all of the investigators. My companions for the next two days were Hna. Ramirez and Hna. Friezsel. It was fun being in a threesome. We made taquitos and had a fun night getting to know each other.

This week we also had a Zone meeting and Zone conference. Zone conference was amazing. It was our zone and another zone and President and Sister Hansen focused on setting goals to develop the Christlike attributes found in Preach My Gospel. I encourage everyone to look at the end of that chapter for the Attribute Activity. It helps evaluate where your weaknesses are. It has helped me from day one in the MTC really focus on becoming a true disciple of Christ.

We have a family, Alva and Nacho, and their two sons, who are really close to baptism. We feel they are both ready, but they need to get married first. They were going to get their marriage license on Monday but their oldest son got really sick with pneumonia and was in the hospital. It is amazing how hard Satan tries to get in the way of the work. Hna. Draney and I are both way excited to plan a boda (wedding) for them! We are hoping they will have a date this week.

Friday night was the ward Cena (Dinner) to celebrate el dia de San Valentin o dia de los enamorados. We went and had some good food, mingled with the members and took off just as the baile started (dancing).

Dad, you should go out with the missionaries! It helps so much to have the testimony of a member!

Thank you for all your love and support. I love how I get more mail from elders I met in the MTC than from my sisters though!! Haha, it's true but I understand everyone is busy. I love you still. Always remember that the Lord is mindful of each one of you and your needs and desires.

Love,

Camille

T1W2 Working Hard!

2009-02-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

How is everyone?! Too bad there's no free DearElder out here--but I would still love mail! 1415 Greens Parkway Houston, TX. This week has been full of teaching. The mission goal is 20 lessons a week and we were so close but only were able to get 19. Which is still impressive.

We found 3 families that we have been teaching and 2 individuals. Their circumstances are all so humble. This one trailor has a trailor that is bare, but they have great faith and the children all sit down for the lessons. My madre(Hna. Draney) had her 1 year mark this week so we went out with the elders in our district to TGI Fridays to celebrate. The elders in my district are a lot of fun. All 6 of us are in the same ward- Louetta Ward. We all work together though we have different areas because the elders had our area before we arrived so they know the recent converts and less actives and investigators really well.

The Louetta Ward is amazing in their missionary efforts. They have a ward mission plan for each family to prayerfully think of one referral by a certain date. They also have split night every week where all of the men that are available meet at the church and take the 4 elders out to their appointments. What they also do is ask for one sister or brother to accompany us each day. They call out in Relief Society "Ok who is available Tuesday evening?" This is important because we really want lessons taught to investigators with a member present. The bigger this number is the more people make it to and feel fellowshipped at church on Sunday. Investigators or "gators" have to go to church to be "progressing" which leads to baptism.

We are so excited because everyone we talk to is interested in our message. Everyday is just packed with "citas" or appointments and by the end of the night we both just come back to the apt. plan for the next day and pass out. We are working really hard.

Saturday we were assigned to work one of the pulgas. Pulga means flea in Spanish and is a "flea market"- not really because it is just a bunch of people selling junk--but there are a lot of people that pass by and we have a booth. We were there for 3.5 hours and did so well! All of the elders couldn't believe how many referrals we got. You have to pretty much jump out in front of the person and get your message out and ask them questions before they can lose interest. Hna. Draney loves it and she got me really pumped so we went in with a good attitude. It helped my Spanish a lot because I was just talking non-stop for the whole time--really fast.

We were fed by a less active sister last week names Hna. Espinoza. She had everything setup and taught us how to make pupusas. They were delicious! They are kind of a ball of masa, or dough, with a pork mixture inside then pressed flat. You put chile sauce on top with a cabbage mixture. The sauce was bien picante or reallllly spicy. I am slowly getting accustomed to hot food. Pupusas are an El Salvadorian thing and another El Salvadorian sister invited us over this week for more pupusas, so we are excited.

I hope all is well back home. As I testify to these people, especially the ones who are inactive members, I realize more and more how much I believe this message I share to be true. Our belief that this is the true church should begin with the Restoration. If that happened- then God speaks to us today through a prophet who gives us commandments out of pure love and concern. Though is may be hard, our obedience is the only thing we have to show our love to our Father in Heaven.

I love each of you. Ciao!

Camille

T1W1 First Week in the Field!

2009-02-24T09:04:00.001-08:00

Hello from Houston!!

How is everyone?! It was good to speak to everyone on Wednesday! Sorry, Emma, that we couldn't get you. Answer yourrr phone next timeee! The weather is gorgeous down here and I am loving life. We work very hard and it just makes us so happy.

I got in Wednesday and President and Sister Hansen were waiting for us outside security along with the assistants. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. We got back to the office and had some quick interviews a bit of orientation then headed out tracting. Hna. Hollenbaugh and I went together and were able to find two people both Spanish speaking that were interested! We did so well. We had dinner made by the Senior couple that works the office and went back to an elder's apartment to spend the night. There were four of us sisters and we had a lot of fun. The next morning we went over to the President's house and had breakfast. After breakfast he announced who our trainers were. My companion is Hermana Draney from Pasco, Washington. I love her. She has been out just about a year and is a great missionary. We took pictures, and then went and did a session at the Houston temple with all the Greenies and the trainers.

Hna. Draney and I are in the Louetta Ward. There are three sets of missionaries here and previously there were only two so our area is new. This is called "whitewashing," because we are both coming in new to the area. It is harder because there isn't someone that already knows the streets, the member's names, the investigators, etc. We've been figuring it out together. This shows that the President has a lot of trust in both of us to work hard and be intelligent about things. The assistants were telling me and Hna. Hollenbaugh that one of us was going to get sent here- it is also called the Spanish ghetto. Hna. Hollenbaugh really wanted to get this area, but it didn't turn out that way. Anyways, we are doing a lot of contacting referrals and potentials as well as visiting all of the inactives and recent converts. We haven't taught a full lesson to any investigators yet but we have great plans for this coming week.

Sunday we went to church and had correlation. It was my first time attending services in Spanish. Testimony meeting wasn't bad, but then hearing people in more of a discussion setting was harder for me to understand everything. I have to pay really close attention to understand. Hna. Draney says, though, that my Spanish is amazing and I am a ton futher along than most Greenies. When the leaders call to check up on us she always tells them that I already speak Spanish like a champ. Several times this week I just had Hna. Draney contact the person on the street because I was afraid of my Spanish but this week I have a goal to let that go and just speak--"Open your mouth" is what they say here. We have an appointment this week with a less active sister who is going to make us pupusas! I'm excited.

I have already seen how much missionaries are blessed and protected. An English family asked us to go home teaching with them our first night here because the husband speaks Spanish, so we went and accidentally left our phone in the car. The next day we had gotten their address when we had the elder's phone to use and we about to go get out phone but we lost the address. After a while of looking around we said a prayer and were able to find the address in the phone book. We found the house pretty far away and the family invited us to stay for dinner--we were just in time for fresh bread from the oven. They also sent us on our way with banana nut bread.

I hope all is going well at home. I love you family and hope you can see the blessings of missionary work in your lives as well. The Church is true.

Con amor,

Camille

MTC Week 10

2009-02-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hola Familia!

Thank you, Mom, for your letters. I appreciate knowing what is going on at home. Sounds like Miriam enjoyed her little vacay. Emma please write me! Rae- I enjoyed your talk a lot. Always be prepared to serve a mission- because like me, the direction from the Lord may come as a great surprise. Please Facebook Elioma/Elley Osere for her contact information- I keep thinking about her and I am prompted to send the missionaries. Mom and Dad- you are both in my prayers. Please know that. I trust that the Lord will help with any challenges in life if we do our part and have the faith that He is all powerful. How is Clarissa? Who are the boys these days? Speaking of boys, I have a funny story so if I can today I'll send a letter to you, Clarissa, with it. Ben!!! My friend, Hna. Hepner, who called the house, thought Rae was soooo funny how she was yelling for you. I love you all.

This week has been very long because most of our district has been gone so it has just been a few of us. We have been calling in the Referral Center in Spanish which is very hard because people speak very fast and over the phone you can't see their lips. But I was able to send the missionaries to a couple people who enjoyed their free DVDs and Book of Mormons they requested from TV commercials.

We practiced teached a couple of sisters that are in the English as a Second Language Program--straight from Ecuador. They are trying to learn English and as they taught us, I was very humbled by their efforts to speak our difficult language. As we taught them, her patience and kindness with my imperfect Spanish got me really excited for the Latinos that I will teach in Houston. It is funny seeing them around because everyone says "Hola, Como Estas" to them and they try hard to "Speak Your Language"(that your learning) and respond in English.

Also, Sunday night's fireside was quite interesting. It was Stephen B. Allen, who is director of training I believe. This is the third time we've heard from him. The last two times he brought in a couple of the cast from this reality series called the District that was made to teach us how to be Preach My Gospel Missionaries. This time he talked a lot about or diligence in the work. At the end he picked a row in the bleachers "5 rows up and 7 people in- come down to the microphone!" That happened to include me and my comp. It was shocking out of 2000 missionaries. We had to go down and say one thing we left behind to come on the mission. I said a FT offer at PWC. I was the last to go out of the 7 and a lot of people commented because a couple of the earlier elders gave silly answers like "my cell phone" and "cartoons." It's funny that sometimes you really see the age difference. My friend Ally, or Sister Taylor, said to me "way to go for representing our maturity as Sisters!"

I am hoping I do not get hurt today. Satan is very apparent here in the days before departure with the tons of injuries that occur. Sunday night my roommate Hna. Cruz fell while getting off her bunk bed and sprained her ankle. She left to Guatemala yesterday--luckily she was able to get around on it.

I am just so excited to serve. I realize I still have a long way to go in my efforts to become as the Savior in my thoughts, acts, and deeds put I know that my weaknesses are forgiven as I try each day to serve better.

One more time- I am flying Delta 4580 departing at 10:04 and arriving at 2:12pm tomorrow. We are leaving here at 6:00am so we should be at the airport around 7:00am. That would be 9am EST to about 11:20 EST that I would be available to call. My comp's bros and sisters are staying home from school for an hour just to get to say hi. If there is anyway I can talk to Rae and Ben too, DearElder me! I will call each of the cell phones to get a hold of the sisters too.

Love you.

Camille

MTC Week 9

2009-02-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

Hola Familia!

Thank you for the package Mom. You are so thoughtful!I just got it and had a few minutes to try on the clothes. I love a couple of the items. We're not allowed to chew gum as missionaries though. How much time is on the phone card? Who shall I call- who will be home?

I received my flight plans on Friday so here it is-I will leave Provo at 6am on Wednesday, January 28th. I am flying directly from SLC to IAH (Houston Internt'l) on Delta flight 4580 that leaves at 10:04am and arrives at 2:12 pm. I received a letter from my mission president today saying that he will be there waiting when I arrive. There are 8 of us going to the Houston Mission that day and I am the travel leader. Hna. Hollenbaugh and I, as well as the two elders that were in our district when we arrived, are all Spanish Speaking and then there are 2 English speaking sisters and 2 English speaking elders. We have a goal to arrive in Houston with 5 referrals to give to our mission president when we arrive. I am so excited.

I would like to call and talk to everyone that is available. If Miriam, Emma, and Clarissa, or anyone else are able to arrange a phone conference or some other way we can all talk- Dear Elder me the plan- otherwise I will just call home and talk to Mom, Dad, Rae, and Ben and then try the other sisters as time permits. I hope to talk to everyone!

Half of my district is gone this week. Elder Johnson already left for Tampa and Elder Halls and Elder Bost leave tomorrow really early for LA. I will miss them a ton. We had a testimony meeting as a district Sunday night. The spirit was very strong and it was very obvious we had all grown very attached and developed a deep love for each member of the district.

I was at a teaching evaluation with Hna. Hollenbaugh and there were two elders waiting outside the door. One was named Elder Tryon. I asked if he had family in Arizona. He said yyyyess. He grandma is Clara Mae. Very weird. Also I looked and looked for Thomas all week and finally yesterday decided to go to the front desk and ask if I could have his classroom number. They said they couldn't give it out even though we're cousins. They did tell me that his lunch hour was just before mine so Hna. Hollenbaugh and I rushed to the cafeteria as soon as class got out and as I was going in the doors I hear the elder holding the door open say "Camille!... I mean Sister Blanco." Haha. It took his comp a few minutes and a few questions to understand how we could be related. Haha. He will do great here. A lot of people I know just left for Argentina.

Probably the biggest thing this week was our visit by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland again! We are so blessed. He loves the missionaries. He came Tuesday night and talked a lot about things that really struck me. He started by saying that you wi8ll never again do anything more important than the mission because the salvation of a single soul is more important than anything in the universe. Don't serve anything less than an 18 month mission. He said to think of your little brother (i thought of Benhamin of course) who doesn't know what you do as a missionary but probably imagines you to have a cape flying above the city of Houston saying "I see evil, I will go down!" Haha. We are angels, messengers of the covenant and the ward members we will become friends with have every right to thing that we are angels- perfect. Elder Holland said very powerfully, "Do it for them. Don't you dare disappoint them. Don't you dare."

Ben- I don't dare disappoint you. So I will serve my best. He said- Be committed. We owe it to that next generation to set a good example and inspire them to serve. Also he said we should work so hard that we are carried in on a stretcher through the chapel doors that are only used for funerals to give our farewell talk. If you run the perfect race you give it your all and have nothing left. You hit the tape and crash. He then proceeded to talk about how missionary life should be spent first in the scriptures and then in preach my gospel. He told a story of Elder Wallace in Toronto who did not accept no for an answer when knocking doors in Czechoslovakia. He was appropriately assertive like the Avon lady and taught to this one lady's needs. He said there are no memorized discussions about war torn Czechoslovakia. Just as Russell M. Nelson knows heart surgery. We should know the scriptures.- So people will trust us with their life- their salvation. He posed the question- why does it have to be so hard? (missionary work that is) He bore solemn testimony of the Atonement and the suffering that Christ did for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said salvation has never been a cheap experience and we will not even experience a fingernail of what Christ experience but how can we be witnesses of the Savior if we do not experience even a piece of what he experienced. In the words of King Benjamin- how can we worship someone that has never entered the thoughts of our hearts. As he gave it all- we can give a little and do it courageously without compromise.

I plan to come into the chapel on a stretcher- hit the tape and crash because I gave it my all and ran the perfect race. This is true for life too.

I love you all and miss you sisters, brother, Mom, and Dad, dearly.

Love, Camille

MTC Week 8

2009-02-24T08:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Family... and Friends,

I hope everyone is doing well. A lot happened this week. Last Tuesday night we heard from Spencer J. Condie of the Seventy. What I liked about his talk was that he said the gospel was for everyone- Republican and Democrat alike! That made me laugh as I thought about our Derwood Ward.

That night the whole building of 200 sisters had to evacuate because of the fire alarm. It turns out someone had just burnt their popcorn in the microwave. It was a funny site seeing 200 sisters in the gymnasium with rain boots, coats, pajamas, robes, towels in hair, cream on the face- everything. My friend, Sister Morrill, was in the shower and her comp had to bring her her some random shoes and clothes and throw them over the curtain for her.

Wednesday we got three new roommates. Hna. Hollenbaugh and I had been alone in a room for 6 for the past 7 weeks. It has definitely been an adjustment but we love it. The three sisters are in the new advanced district in my zone so they all speak fluently. It helps us out a lot. Two are going to Guatemala and one is going to Richmond, VA. They leave the same week as us. We are flying out to Houston on January 29th and this week is Flight Plan Friday. Yay!! Half of our district got their flight plans last Friday and are leaving this coming Monday and Wednesday. We are split between the two weeks because we came in a week early due to Thanksgiving.

We taught a man named Jim in TRC on Saturday. His "ex-wife" who was with him who wasn't supposed to be present had some tough questions for us about the Plan of Salvation. We answered them well and were commended by our teachers though. The Spanish was very smooth and we were able to find the words we needed. The other companionships in the district struggled but we are all supporting each other in this, "our last week," to do a complete English fast.

Elder Rios-Lazo is an elder that was supposed to go with the last group going to our mission in Houston but two nights before had a seizure. The doctor allowed him to join another district and finally received a second chance to go last tuesday. At 3am his comp woke him up in the middle of another seizure. The doctor issued a recommendation for him to be sent home. He had written a letter to our mission President, President Hansen, expressing his strong desire to serve. President Hansen, after the second incident, counseled with "THE BRETHREN" aka Apostles and decided that they would give Elder Rios-Lazo another chance. He was on a flight two days later to Houston. I was so impressed by his gratitude to President Hansen for not denying his opportunity to serve the Lord.

Thursday was probably the biggest event. An elder from our district, Elder Park from Sandy going to Tampa, FL went home. It was very devastating to see this happen. The previous week he didn't eat any food for 4 days straight. He claimed he just had a stomach virus and we thought nothing of it when he started to eat again. Thursday we all became suspicious as he was interviewed all day long. We love Elder Park. He had such a love for everyone in the district, our teachers especially. When he bore his testimony it was very powerful. My companionship and his companionship always practiced teaching together and we read the Libro de Mormon out loud every single day. Apparently since two weeks after he received his call, he had begun having symptoms of anxiety. It all culminated the past couple weeks as his fears of the work, the language, and insufficiency piled on. Him and Elder Johnson are the first ones to leave- this Monday. Our whole district had tears in our eyes as we said not good bye- but hasta luego/nos vemos- or en ingles- until later/we'll see you. His mother, brother and sister came to pick him up. He will have to have counseling for 6 months before returning but Elder Bost gave him a blessing before he left. Elder Bost said that he received a very clear witness as he pronounced the blessing upon Elder Park, that Elder Park would be able to return and complete his mission.

Finally, Hna. Hollenbaugh and I received a letter from Hna. Willis who is now down in Houston. We met her in the MTC a couple weeks after we got here. She says the work is amazing down there. She has already had 1 baptism and has 20 progressing investigators. She says the mission president is very nice and friendly. It made us very excited. She also said the weather fluxuates between hot and cold so we may need both types of clothing for at least a little while. We had a meeting last night about health and safety and with all of the food, medical, exercise, and safety precautions you can tell how much the missionaries are protected.

I love this work. I am getting so excited as our time at the MTC draws closer to an end. I cannot wait to feel the love for the investigators that I will teach that my teachers talk about. The more I study the scriptures, the more I know that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ restored to us in the latter-days. Those of you that can attend the temple, there is no greater place to feel the peace of our Heavenly Father's presence. I love it. I love you all very much.

Con amor,

Hermana Camille Blanco

MTC Week 7

2009-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

How is life getting back to school? Sounds like New Years was enjoyed by all, whether it was asleep in bed or celebrating. You can always count on Clarissa to celebrate when the parents go to bed.

Is it cold in Maryland? Sunday it was -5 degrees F when we headed over to Sacrament. Provo is very snowy! We are walking to the temple today so we'll be out in it for a bit.

I am getting so anxious to get out to Houston. We were part of the group that was brought in early because of the holidays so we will be here about a week longer than the rest of our district. They leave in about 2 weeks and we leave on the 28th of January. There is an elder going to our mission that had an injury and so he couldn't go right before Christmas like was the plan but he found out yesterday that they had booked him a flight for today so we wrote down some questions for him about the weather, the mission president, what to expect etc.

This week was another great week.

Tuesday night's devotional we heard from Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy. That was one of my favorite. He got his MBA at Harvard and so immediately I knew it would be amazing, but he said at ton of things that struck everyone really powerfully. Something he really emphasized was that when he was a mission president, the missionaries were not allowed to say they were TRYING. TRYING isn't allowed. Good missionaries DO. Are you waking up every morning at 6:30am and going to sleep by 10:30pm? How silly is it to say "I'm trying to be obedient and follow these rules"? The Savior throughout the scriptures not once asked us to try.

He also talked about how important it is to establish the power of divine identity with an investigator before they can learn more. The understanding that Heavenly Father knows us individually, that he called Joseph Smith by name, that he rejoices in our rejoices in sorrows in our sorrows is the fundamental piece of knowledge the gospel of Jesus Christ issues. Just the day before I received a Dear Elder from Rae. I was reminded of her patriarchal blessing as she mentioned it. I know I joked about it then, but when Patriarch Willis said all of those foreboding things about trouble and tribulation in her life, I was really afraid for little perfect Rae. In that Dear Elder I was comforted by the words she said when she essentially bore testimony that she knows she is a daughter of Heavenly Father. He loves her so much. Heavenly Father doesn't call us to fail and so any trial we are given is out of trust that he knew we would be able to handle it.

This week we taught the first lesson in Spanish in the Teaching Resource Center. We taught a man named Marcos from Lima, Peru now living in Provo. He has Polio and knows the Alfredo Lopez family. The Spirit was so strong during that lesson. Even though he was just pretending, we were able to first establish that understanding that Marcos is a child of God.

Last Tuesday the temple was closed for cleaning but we were able to go and clean inside. It was a great experience. We also saw the enormous chandelier that they were about to install in the celestial room. I am excited to go today and see it all lit up and in place.

Sunday I played a flute that was borrowed from one our branch presidency members, Brother Palmer. I played "If You Could Hie to Kolob" along with Elder Arnold who was in Men's Chorus before his mission and Hermana Bausermann at the piano who is serving in Provo, UT Spanish Speaking Mission after having attended BYU for 3 years. It was beautiful. I played the flute better than I ever have before and a lot of people were impressed; but most of all, the Spirit was sooo strong. It was a great experience.

Testimony meeting was amazing. I bore my testimony because I realized it would be my last fast Sunday in the MTC. My Spanish was perfect. I not once struggled for the conjugation or word... I bore a simple testimony that the Church is true and this is the Lord's work.

I will write my letters today but I have a few more pictures I want to send home so I'll hold off for a few days before sending them.

I love each of you and hope all is well. I pray for you countless times a day.

Love,

Camille

MTC Week 6

2009-02-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

I'm glad to hear from everyone, especially with winter break and Christmas happening. I hope you got my letter saying that I was able to hear from Elder Bednar on Christmas eve and Elder Holland on Christmas morning. Their testimonies of the Savior were the best Christmas present one could ask for.

Christmas was amazing. Though I missed being with you family, the MTC made it very special. We watched Mr. Kreuger's Christmas and ate kettle corn, and 1500 missionaries play called to serve on the chimes as we followed the bouncing ball on a hugeeee screen, and listened to Sister Brienholt (wife of 2nd counselor in Mission Presidency) tell us Christmas stories.

We taught in Espanol in the Teaching Appointment this past Saturday. This next Saturday we have to "be shopping in a department" while we make a contact. It will be interesting but these fun situations allow us to learn vocabulary other than just church words like "priesthood" and "Sunday School." The more we practice our lessons the better our Spanish sounds.

My district is talking in complete Spanish until the end of the MTC. It is hard a lot of the times and we find ourselves forgetting and so it is good to have the support of 10 other people to remind you to say it in Spanish.

Something really funny happened just the other day. Because of winter break (most of the student teachers are home) we had Hermano Rojas (who, by the way, recognized me from the Marriott School) as a substitute. Elder Johnson, in our class, asked him how to say "Gosh!" en Espanol. He threw out several suggestions but couldn't decide on one being very good. Hermana Hepner chimed in "Hee! Hee!" She said it probably a dozen times. Hermano Rojas said he had never heard that before but "whatever floats your boat." She then added like "Ay Carrumba!... it says it in the dictionary." I then realized she was doing a Spanish pronunciation of "Gee." Like "Gee Golly,"- the English definition for "Ay Carrumba." She felt pretty silly and soon the whole class was rolling on the floor laughing as they realized what she had done. I was crying because I was laughing so hard. Our teacher had to leave the room because he couldn't compose himself. The zone leaders came by to see if everything was ok because it sounded like we were all bawling about something. It made for a very good laugh.

Sunday night's devotional was Brother Allen who is the managing director of some department of Church Public Media Communications. He was a Comms Adv. major at BYU- (shout out to Miriam). Anyways, he produced several of the Church's Homefront spots with clever taglines. One was a little boy with huge glasses that seemed very embarrassed and put down by his other classmates. As he hung his head when the band instructor made him put his glasses on, he caught the eye of a little girl. A few seconds later she smiled back at him and you could see her huge chunky braces. Us missionaries love little bits of romance wherever we find it. (Legacy, The Joseph Smith Movie, Testaments- you name it). Anyways, the tag line for that commercial was "It's not who you aren't, its who you are and being yourself is being great."

As we heard the general primary president Cheryl C. Lant in Relief Society this Sunday talk about Individual worth, this goes hand in hand. The Lord's love for us is perfect. Our Heavenly Father wants our happiness and if we don't have love for ourselves first, it is difficult to feel His presence and the blessings we receive so frequently from Him. As I see sooo many different people going to soo many different places, I truly see the love that the Lord has for even people in the Congo. The elders in the classroom right below us are going there. This gospel is so important and provides so much joy that everyone needs to hear it feel that love of our Heavenly Father. This is why I am so excited to go.

My departure date is January 28th and it is less than a month now. I hope you can find ways to demonstrate this love in your service to others at school, at the airport, at the hospital, at McDonalds.

I love each of you.

Your missionary,

Camille

MTC Week 5

2009-02-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Family,

Sorry, this is going to be a short email because I had computer problems earlier and now only have a few minutes to write.

First of all I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Thank you for the package. I haven't opened the presents yet but the stocking was fun. It reminded me of how I loved how we would go through our stocking super early in the morning and then again later when it was actually a decent hour.

Spending this holiday in the service of my Savior is probably the best thing one could do. I'm not sure exactly what the MTC has planned but I think we're all hoping for President Monson to come. We heard from Elder Glenn L. Pace this last week.

Each day is filled with the spirit. This week the highlight was definitely teaching in Spanish for the first time. It was interesting. I find myself being a lot more confident in my Spanish which helps a lot. I still have a long ways to go but I know the Lord will help me as I study and work on it.

I love the letters from Rae and Missy in Spanish. I got an email from Elder Bethke just the other day too in Spanish. That was so fun. He said the gangsters are afraid of him and his Samoan companion.

Sunday was pretty funny. Sister Mary Ellen Edmonds (Editor's note: I love her, she's one of my Women's Conference favorites) spoke to us and she is so not like the other polished Relief Society women, but I felt the Spirit so strongly in her jokes and her testimony. She said when she was called to the RS General Board she started looking up definitions of words. She looked up relief in the bible dictionary and couldn't find it spelled correctly, "R-o-l-a-i-d-s." Haha.

She also said that our Father in heaven loves us perfectly. That was something I needed especially with my companion. He doesn't remember our shortcomings and is patient in all things when we are far from perfect. I am so grateful for the knowledge of this and have been working on that perfect love for my companion.

Please write me and let me know what happens for Christmas. I know it will be different this year but wherever we are, we can remember our Savior and His eternal gift. I was able to get a picture with Elder Bloom and Elder Harmon together before Elder Bloom left for LV yesterday. He will be a good missionary.

I pray for you guys every day. Know that I love you and that with faith all of our challenges can be over come. Christ descended below it all.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Camille

MTC Week 4

2009-02-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

Dearest Family,

I am glad to hear from you whenever I get mail. Thank you mom for your frequent DearElders. I love hearing from you each day. Sounds like Clarissa made it home safely after all of that happened in LA/AL. And I hope Miriam had a fun time in Seattle. Time is going by so quickly here. The days go by like weeks but the weeks go by like days.

This week in Relief Society we heard from Mary N. Cook of the YW General Presidency. I said the closing prayer and sat on the stand so that was fun to be so close to her. RS is a large meeting with all the sister missionaries so we are blessed to get to hear from some amazing people sometimes. She talked about virtue being a new YW value. It was a great talk. We also heard from Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy last Tuesday night which was amazing.

Sunday night's devotional was the BYU Men's Chorus. They sang Christmas songs and other fun songs the whole time. It was also amazing. The spirit was so strong, especially as one of the members told of his conversion story in Taiwan just a couple years ago. He was stubborn with the missionaries and ready to ask them not to come anymore. Right before he could tell them the news, the elders had him listen to a cd. It was the BYU Men's Chorus. He felt the Spirit. He said, "How could something so beautiful not be of God?" It reminds me of the Echoes of the Sabbath CD that you love Rae. It was weird seeing a huge group of returned missionaries on our missionary territory. Haha. I saw Paul Brems and Doug Brewster- who I did investment banking trips with and whose wife is Mariah in the accounting program who was a great example to me as I decided to serve a mission. I talked with both of them for a little while after.

Christmas is coming up and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Yesterday when I was making phone calls at the Referral Center, I called a lady to see if she had gotten her Joy to the World DVD that she requested on mormon.org. It was such a great experience to bear my testimony of the Savior to her. She was also excited to focus on the life of Christ. She asked about the Book of Mormon and hopefully in the future she will be able to learn of that truthfulness too. Ironically, she is in Houston. She said it was snowing!!! The first snow in four years! I couldn't believe it. I thought I would be escaping the cold wetness. It is snowing quite a bit just recently but I have been keeping warm.

As I look to Christ's example, I know how imperfect I am. I was asked to speak in Relief Society in a couple weeks just for a couple minutes and share my experience of observing quiet time in the Residence Halls. My companion and I set a goal to do as they asked and be quiet at 10:15 and lights out at 10:30. It has blessed me in my journal writing and reflection of my spiritual experiences from the day.

I am so grateful for all of your love and prayers. I hope Christmas is full of love for Jesus Christ and for our family. We have been singing Christmas songs as a district and they love that I can sing the harmony. The beautiful music allows us to remember our Savior and His important role in this plan.

I love each of you- Dad, Mom, Emma, Miriam, Clarissa, Rae, and Ben. I know that obedience and patience is the key as we turn to the Lord for help with our struggles. He will bless you.

Love,

Camille

MTC Week 3

2009-02-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hello Family (and whoever else is blessed with my emails ;) ),

First of all, thank you for all your letters, love, and prayers.

We are currently learning the second lesson, which is the Plan of Salvation, and I am truly grateful for my family and bear testimony of that every time I teach.

This week has flown by as well. Bien hecho (well done) to Ben on bearing your testimony. Our second day in the MTC we learned to bear our testimonies in Spanish and were challenged to share it a certain number of times. Each time I do, my testimony grows. Ben, I am glad that you are looking forward to serving a mission. I have never before felt so uplifted and blessed. This is truly His work.

Congratulations to Emma on the engagement. The blessings of the temple are real. Today as I sat in the celestial room, I felt Heavenly Father's love so strongly. There are challenges being here, but the frequent presence of the Spirit put things quickly back into perspective.

Last week at the Tuesday Evening Devotional we heard from Bishop Richard C. Edgely of the Presiding Bishopric. He had a great message that even if we just plant the seed as missionaries, the Lord's work will go forth and though we may not see the fruits that seed will reap, they are many. Sister Edgely also shared a story that I loved about Joseph B. Wirthlin- the catchphrase is "don't worry Joseph, you'll go into it". I don't have time to tell the story, but search www.lds.org for it.

Oh, weird thing happened last week- I went to the copy center to have something done and the girl at the desk was Kelsey Brems- Paul's younger sister that I had bonded with while in Arizona. That was a little awkward.

We had our first TRC experience- where we are evaluated in a teaching assignment with simulated setups and volunteers that pretend to be investigators. It was a little nerve-wrecking to do the door contacting but it went smoothly. (That was in Spanish) We taught the first lesson and had practiced that so many times that it went very well. My district likes to spend time at the Referral Center which is an inbound/outbound call center where you can process investigator's requests for a free Book of Mormon or Lamb of God Dvd or whatever it was on the commercial. It is a great opportunity to share your testimony as you ask if they'd be willing to have the missionaries deliver it. Just two days ago I talked to an Evangelical man that wanted the Finding Faith in Christ DVD. I got him to agree to the missionaries after bearing my testimony of the Savior's role in my life and the special message they will bring that He Lives.

We continue to have fun experiences in my class/district. My teacher from Honduras used the word "bamboozler" once because he had found it in the dictionary. We tease him about it daily.

Fast Sunday was great. We watched the First Presidency Christmas Broadcast- I know that mom said you guys couldn't make it but did anyone else see it? It was wonderful. I also especially enjoyed Elder Maxwell's talk in this month's Ensign. Everyone, read it.

After Sunday evening devotionals we have movie night. You get to choose from a random selection of 4 movies/talks. This week we went and saw the Testaments. It is better and better every time. It is like our Friday night of fun because we get to go out to the movies.

Haha. My zone leader that just left for San Fran was from Chantilly and he was excited to hear about Rae going to the Oakton dances because he was the DJ for the dances up until 9 weeks ago when he reported to the MTC.

Unfortunately I am not allowed to call home for Christmas because the MTC does not have the means to have 2000+ missionaries call home. I hope everyone is getting in the Spirit of La Navidad. Christmas is a nice reminder that we should have Christ at the center of our lives.

I hope all is well- Dad, how are you?! Mom keep working hard. I appreciate everything you do. The Lord will provide a way if we have faith, work hard and do our part. I am working hard. Let Sister Gaskin know I write in that missionary journal every night. It is great to look back on all of the Spiritual experiences I have had over just 3 weeks. Miriam, Clarissa, Emma, Rae, Ben- I love you guys, the scriptures are wonderful and prayer is always the answer. I have come to know that and am very thankful. I am so happy for all of the missionary work in the ward, it sounds like there is much going on. I will try and write as many letters as I can. Oh, and I have pictures this week so look for them in the mail!

I love you all,

Your missionary-

Camille

MTC Week 2

2009-02-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Thank you for all of the Dear Elders. The mail room is really good at making corrections to box numbers. I'm sorry about the confusion. My address is now:

Hermana Camille Blanco
Provo MTC Box #108
TX-HOU 0128
2005 N 900E
Provo, UT 84604
camille.blanco.THM@myldsmail.net

Anyone is allowed to email me, however, I can only reply via email to direct family.

I got a Dear Elder from Aunt Cindy and that was a nice surprise. Mom, will you forward my emails on to Dustin? Also, I think Clarissa's email is incorrect on the directory because I got the email back. I'm sorry I still haven't gotten pictures developed so it'll be another week until I am able to get some sent out.

I hope everyone is doing well.

I saw Boyd in the cafeteria this week and he said to say hi to the family. He teaches Romanian on the floor just above me. I also saw Rachel Lovejoy and Caitlin Magidson and some other guys I knew from Hawaii. The building is small so that was quite a coincidence.

Mom, thank you for checking my Wells Fargo account.

This week went by 3x as fast as the first week. I am learning so much every day. My district is amazing. We a have a lot of fun together. We tried an English fast last night, meaning from after lunch until lights out at 10:30pm we had to speak only Spanish. I think it was a little premature because some people in the class don't have vocabulary to last that long, but it was good in that it forced all of us to use our Spanish more.

One of my teachers, Brother Dallon, is super funny. He has a girlfriend right now that is 19 and is the daughter of the mission president of his home in Omaha and she just got her mission call to Czech. She wants to keep going out with him but he believes writing someone is distracting and completely inappropriate. This time should be between you, the Lord, and your mother (only to keep her sane). Anyways, it's very dramatic and we love to hear about the details.

My other teacher is this tiny native speaker, Brother Vazquez. He giggles at everything and the Elders love getting off task by asking him how to say silly things like "Who ya gonna call?" or "Peace out".

I am becoming much more familiar with the scriptures and have been a memorizing machine. I love Section 4 in the D&C- as every missionary should. It keeps me working hard. Something interesting I realized through that section is that I was wrong when I thought that going on a mission was very optional for me because my patriarchal blessing says that I was to serve a mission if it was the desire of my heart; however, this is what the Lord says to everyone in Section 4. There are people that I am meant to teach in Houston. I have a testimony that I can be an instrument in his hands and this is what he wants for me.

My companion, Hermana Hollenbaugh, and I are becoming better friends. We are setting goals more and becoming better at teaching. I am so happy and I hope everyone can find joy in the gospel too. It brings me peace and I pray more often and more sincerely than ever before. Thank you for your prayers.

Miriam, Josh Humphreys is like my mission brother and he wants a letter from you. I miss everyone dearly, Dad, Mom, Emma, Miriam, Clarissa, Rae, and of course Ben. Keep using deer elder. (Editor's note: I left that spelling error, because it is soooooo Camille.)

Your missionary,

Hermana Camille Blanco

MTC Week 1

2009-02-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone? Sorry, I have only 20 minutes left and there is so much to tell. I hope all is well at home and in UT and HI.

Serving a mission is one of the best decisions I could have made. The MTC is work work work. I love it though. The spirit is with us all day long.

I saw Elder Bloem a couple times a day since I've been here. It is fun to see so many people that I know. I run into people from the business school pretty frequently because they are teachers here.

Yesterday my companion and I changed districts(classes) because I am at a more advanced level in my Spanish than most of the other people learning Spanish. We are in an intermediate district and the teacher speaks Spanish the entire class. It is fun getting to know people.

We went to the temple today and that was an amazing experience. Miriam, on Sunday I was at the temple taking pictures with my old district and one of the Elders I asked to take pictures for me was in your Freshman Ward in Helaman Halls. He is going to Texas as well. I can't remember his name now- Elder Farrer or something along those lines.

Thursday we get to hear from a General Authority. They don't announce beforehand so the community doesn't come sneak in. I am excited for Thanksgiving. I pray for everyone every day.

My Spanish has gotten a lot better. I say all my prayers in Spanish and I can bear my testimony as well. Thank you Miriam for that party- and to the rest of the family for coming to the MTC. Did you get my letter? I will send some pictures in about a week. The photo developers are taking the holiday off.

I wanted to share a story I heard in a Large Group Meeting- similar to a devotional with the MTC Presidency. A lady about to die asked that she be buried with a fork in her right hand. When everyone passed her casket (sp?) they wondered why she had a fork. During the funeral service, the speaker informed the congregation of her wish to buried with a fork in her hand. When she was alive, she always knew something better was coming when she got to keep her fork for dessert. It was not just a cookie or jello- but some delicious pie or cake. She knew that something better was coming after she passed away so she asked to keep her fork with her. I liked that story.

Are you guys shopping on black friday?

Sorry this email is so random but I didn't organize my thoughts before I started and now the time is running out.

My companion is Hermana Hollenbaugh from Puyallup, WA. We've had some differences to work out but I think we are getting better. I am a perfectionist because I feel like I am in school and I think it might stress her out, because assignments were and are always so important. I am trying to be more patient and charitable.

Please write! I haven't gotten any mail and I'm the only one. I know everyone is busy and I would love to hear about what is going on.

I love you all,

Camille

Editor's Note

2009-02-24T07:28:00.000-08:00

So in light of Camille leaving, the blog posting was left to me, only I am not so diligent in posting as Camille. I am sorry. But here are her updates...in letter form. Hopefully I'll be better about posting them in the future, but no promises of course.

Emma

After 18 months with no computer, will this change?

2008-11-14T09:32:00.000-08:00

74 words

Typing Test

WoW Embroidery

2008-11-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

I received this amazing gift from Janine Boyce in my ward! Check out her other very cute items at her etsy shop- Words of Wisdom Embroidery! Personalized gifts are always a great way to go. Thank you!

Ducks in a Row

2008-11-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

So, while I loved the firm I was with this summer, I didn't enjoy so much the auditing that I was doing. I interviewed a couple weeks ago to intern with a different group within the same firm when I get back from my mission. This group is more finance focused and offers more intuitive and complex work earlier on. Loved the office, the location (13th and K St. downtown), the people, everything.

This is one of the first interviews I've come out of really feeling unsure of the verdict. The interview was a little more than behavioral, though I didn't get a brain teaser like some of the other candidates. Also, the group is quite a bit smaller making it much more competitive. After settling with the thought there would be other options if this didn't work out, I received a rather pleasant call from my spunky recruiter informing me they would like to make an offer for the summer of 2010.

I am happy to be joining PricewaterhouseCooper's Structured Finance Group in the Washington, DC office in the summer of 2010 and hopefully full-time following graduation!

Yay for getting my ducks in a row!... A row that I'll actually enjoy.

Gas

2008-11-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

I am going to miss tagging along with my mom as she runs errands. Today we made a trip to our favorite thrift store in Laurel, MD and filled our tank for $1.97/gallon! I love cheap gas because you don't feel so guilty taking scenic drives. Two of my favorites are along the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the Nebo Loop in Payson, UT.

Something Fun...

2008-11-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

(Click on the Link...)

Delectable

2008-11-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Sunkist Fruit Gems.... the way to my heart. Miriam and I would joke about buying a 32lb order of these online because for a long time we could not find them anywhere! Not even in the plastic tubs at Costco. They are soft and chewy and citrus-y. Anyways, while in Provo "going to school" about a month ago, I was with Missy and Miriam waiting for a wedding gift to be wrapped at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and lo and behold, right there in the middle of their huge candy display at the customer service counter was a nice box of these precious things. It was a shallow tray priced at $6! In spite of the price, Miriam quickly grabbed a few boxes. A day later I was doing a little grocery shopping at Days Market on Canyon Road. (I shop there because it is cute and homey, I like to feel like a local and not a college student) I found a large stock of these hidden in a crate about knee level on the end of a produce display. I brought Miriam back within a couple days and I think she bought half of their inventory. Anyways, if you are ever in Days, pick up a bag of these delectable treats. Their freshness lasts forever because of the individual packaging.

MODO

2008-11-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

I recently got a new pair of glasses. I absolutely love them. I made my Dad come and watch me try on hundreds of frames after I had gone by myself and decided I just couldn't pick. He picked a winner. The frames are by Modo. The quality is impecable and I am blown away by their collections displayed online. There is just something about the way the hinge springs the arm into place or the texture of the frame... I just don't know. They do have an online shop. But it is only sunglasses. They are still fabulous.

Imagine Me!, A Missionary Traveling Through the Land...

2008-11-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else know that song?

Found this. Dad is a cute little missionary. He told me that his first companion was Tongan so he didn't know until his second companion that it wasn't standard to eat 4 meals a day.

One other reason I love missionaries.

Thursday night I spent overnight downtown and came home yesterday afternoon to find our whole-good-sized-yard-with-leaves-up-to-your knees had been nicely raked. Ironically, as Mom and I were leaving for the metro on Thursday we saw the threesome of elders in our ward, who we have been "running into" quite frequently lately, turn onto our street in their car- wearing t-shirts. We thought they were just going to visit our neighbor friends who they are teaching.

Short trip to the Islands...

2008-10-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

I spent this weekend at BYU-Hawaii visiting Clarissa before I leave on my mission. I stopped in Seattle on the way and spent a night with Sara Hyer, a good friend of mine and one of the most amazing people ever. We had such a fun time!
It was a short trip but I had a great time seeing old faces and old places. I stayed with my good friend Dustin and his wife Hiva in their TVA apartment. I love Dustin and Hiva. They are the most adorable and selfless people I know. The first thing I did when I got in was curl Clarissa's hair for Fall Ball that night. Luckily my dress that I had mailed to her got there in time. She looked stunning.

I was also able to attend a session at the Laie Temple. It was in Tongan. I loved it.

I am now convinced I am going to marry a Tongan. Dustin and Hiva got a kick out of how serious I am.

Here are Dustin, myself, and Justin just before I flew out Sunday night. I've had so many fun times with these two!

Before there was Ben.

2008-10-23T03:12:00.001-07:00

I absolutely love these two pictures of our very young family. The first was taken just after Rae was born and was sent out to announce her birth with the words "Straight to our arms from heaven above... Another little girl to love" written in my mother's beautiful handwriting on the back. We all look so happy to have another sister. To this day, if you ask each one of the girls which sister is their favorite, we would all probably answer Rae. It's not because she has this gorgeous long straight hair that every girl wants, or because she looks good in almost every photo taken, but she is best friends with all of us- no matter our time zone or current struggles. I love my other sisters too. Soon we will be in Utah, Texas, Hawaii, and Maryland. I miss them dearly. With Ben, it no longer has so much a Ya-Ya feel, but he is amazing.

As I look at the pictures, we haven't changed much. I still have crazy wavy hair. Clarissa still has tiny arms and legs. Emma has lost her curls and Miriam no longer has casts on her legs. But I imagine as all of us girls conference-called not too long ago and we laughed about those people we will make fun of till we die, (in a kind make-fun-of type way) we all had the same smiles on our faces.

One more thing. Derwood, Maryland is beautiful in the fall. Well, all year round actually. But take a look at the the colors.
Fraley Farm just off Bowie Mill... oh the Seminary memories.

The Temple

2008-10-20T16:00:00.001-07:00

Friday, October 17th, I received my own endowment in the Washington DC Temple. Going through the temple for the first time was an amazing experience. It was a special day to be there with both my parents as well as a good family friend Joyce Lewis. It was an amazing experience and a huge thing.

We are raised through childhood singing the primary song "I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday..." and I still can't believe that someday has actually come and gone. I am grateful to my parents that instilled a sense of continual preparation to be able to enjoy such an amazing thing. I have about a month until I leave on my mission and I will be returning to the temple as much as possible in that time. This amazing edifice that I would frolic around when I was a young child now has even more importance to me. It is a beautiful place and the blessings of the temple are real.

Lots of News!

2008-09-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in quite a while but I do have several pretty exciting things to share!

I have been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Texas Houston Mission, Spanish speaking. I report to the MTC November 19th, 2008 and will return May 2010. I am very excited.

I started classes at BYU this semester just in case I was able to do another semester before I left. My call came to my home in Maryland September 13th and we were able to get my whole family on the phone to hear my Mom read the call. I was staying at Aunt Ann Palmer's house and unfortunately Emma had to leave just before Mom got home to open the call, so we had her voicemail going when the call was read. Dad joined the call from work and Clarissa from Hawaii. I was pretty emotional. I dropped my classes the following Monday and later that week started the drive home to Maryland.

This summer I interned in audit with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Assurance (Audit) line of service out of the Tysons Corner (Washington DC Metro) office. While I loved the firm, I found myself more interested in a different group called the Structured Finance Group that does securitization and valuation of asset-backed securities. PwC was so great to work with my mission and extend and full-time offer in audit allowing me to go on a mission. I recently just got news that the Structured Finance Group is interested in having me interview with them at the end of this month to intern with them in the summer of 2010 after I return. I am so excited! I'm hoping the interview goes well.

I'm taking the temple prep class at church and preparing to get my endowments and attend the temple with my parents a couple times before I leave on my mission.

I also turned 21 a week ago today! (September 21st) I got my new drivers license this past week. My life currently consists of preparing for the mission. Hopefully my mom will be willing to keep this blog, or another up to date as I go on my mission with updates/emails/pictures, etc.

DC area Accounting intern friends at BYU!

Half-Way Through

2008-02-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

I'm more than half-way through the Accounting Junior Core now. I cannot even put into words how happy I'll be when I finish. Valentine's day I'll find out which of the Fab 5 will fly me out for second round interviews at the office for internships this summer. I've been enjoying all of the recruiting events and had some really good experiences doing first round interviews, so we'll see. The whole past two semesters I've been occupied in the library, even on the weekends so I don't have too much to share in the way of new adventures, guys, or whatever. Hopefully, not working this semester will change that for me. My co-workers took me to Sushiya for all you can eat sushi as a farewell luncheon. I've been on the Magic Admin team at the church's IT help desk for about a year now and it was sad to leave. I've found time to re-organize my room and actually help out doing volunteer income tax assistance. Enjoy the picture of me entertaining myself in the library.

Home in Maryland

2007-08-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

I flew home to Maryland for a week. It was fun. I got to see my family and also be a part of my best friend's wedding! Sarah Carr was my roommate during my freshman year in Hawaii and coincidentally, she is from Philadelphia which made the Washington DC temple the place to get married! The wedding was beautiful!

August 16th was my sister Rae's birthday. We celebrated by going to Sakura, a Japanese habachi grill. My mom also made some amazing baked alaska. I got her a cute outfit from Forever 21. While back home I did some shopping back home at a couple of my favorite stores, Urban Outfitters and H&M.

I did temple baptisms with the youth while at home and spent some time with my family. We saw the movie No Reservations, which was cute. I also, of course, visited my second family- the Chevys Fresh Mex group! My bosses Mimi and Sharon, and co-workers that have seen me grow up over the years were very happy to have me visit.

I'd have to say though, the best part about being home was, of course, getting my ticket for free! I used a travel voucher that I had acquired last Christmas for an oversold flight. That's the way to go! I'm now back in Provo and staying with sisters until I can move into my new condo. Classes start a week from today and I'm working as much as possible until then so I can pay for my $500 textbooks.

Hiking Mount Nebo

2007-08-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was very eventful and exhausting. It consisted of hiking Mount Nebo, the tallest mountain in the Wassatch Front and making a several attempts at wake-skating.

I set off this morning with friends Corey and Jonathan from the ward to hike Mount Nebo. Corey had locked his keys in his car and so we didn't get going as early as we had hoped but still made it up to the trailhead pretty early. We followed the Nebo Scenic Byway Loop for a while before making it to the trailhead. The trail immediately started out pretty steep. We climbed several peaks, each getting steeper until we reached the North Summit. The views of the rolling mountains below were beautiful. We had perfect weather and slowly but surely made it to the top. Mt Nebo is at 11,928 ft. It got a little cold while up at the top. Corey and Johnathan took several pictures from the summit. I failed to bring my camera so pictures to go along with this post will just have to wait until I get them from the guys. Coming back down was extremely dangerous and included several pretty embarrassing slips on the rocks. We all made it down safely, though much later than usual. The hike was strenuous, but totally worth it to once again be on top of the world. Last weekend, Jonathan and I, along with his brother Josh hiked to the summit of Mount Timpanogos. We definitely encountered fewer people on this hike and found more rapid elevation gain. The day was enjoyable and I felt pretty physically prepared.

Upon returning to Windsor Park, where we all live, I joined the two of them and Steve, another from the ward, to go wake-skating at a canal up near Spanish Fork. I have never boarded at all before so it was definitely a first of its kind for me. It took me several attempts to actually get up. With everyone's coaching I eventually was able to get up. It was really fun and I enjoyed watching Steve, Corey, and Jonathan attempt cool moves.

We all returned even more exhausted, but it was all in all a lot of fun!

I also registered for my classes for Fall Semester at BYU just yesterday. After much deliberation, I decided to join a friend Jarom in Section 2, which is the morning section with professors Johnson, Sommers, and Zimbelman. I later found out another friend Robert registered for the same section. Fall Semester is right around the corner, and I'm not gonna lie... I'm kinda excited. :)